The Ties That Bind
by Dark Chyld713
Summary: Charlie Baxter has just gotten out of a marriage with a man that she can't seem to let out of her life. Will a chance meeting and new friendship with a neighbor change her or add to the already chaotic life she leads? UndertakerXOC
1. Chapter 1

Charlie pulled into her driveway and sighed. She was exhausted, just about ready to fall against her steering wheel and spend the night sleeping in her car. Work had been nothing short of hell and the fight with her soon to be ex-husband afterwards was torture. As much as he had yelled and screamed, threatening that she'd never see her kids again, at least this time he hadn't tried to shove her or hit her. It was the most tamed fight that they had in months. When had he become so angry, domineering and all out mean? She sighed and shook her head of her thoughts. They would do no good. No matter how hard she tried there was not one single time that she was able to pin point when things had gone from bad to worse with him.

The only good thing about her day was that she was home. At home, _her _home, her very own place. She had cried for a good two weeks when her husband insisted that they move out here to Texas, away from New York, away from her family. Now though she was thankful for it. Her neighborhood was quieter, and she was able to afford a lot more for her and her kids than she could have in New York.

This wasn't what her New Years day was supposed to be like. She wanted to be able to stay in and play with her kids. Enjoy the rare quiet time that she could get with them. Not be running around all day in a clothing store aching to hold her kids once more.

A smile crossed her face as she turned and looked at her two sleeping children in the backseat. No matter how tired she was she knew that she had to muster up at least a bit more energy before she could find the nearest soft surface and crash for the night.

Wrapping her jacket around her a little more Charlie turned off her car and hopped out of the car shivering slightly against the chill of the night air. She moved to the back of the car ready to get her kids inside when she noticed a small figure moving towards her.

"Hello?" Charlie called out into the dark. The light at the head of the driveway gave her some light but not enough to know for certain what was moving around on the other side of her car.

"Charlie, can I stay here?"

Charlie moved around to the other side of the car and laid eyes on a little girl that lived in the enormous ranch behind her.

"Sida? What are you doing all the way over here so late at night? It's after ten, your mom is going to be very worried about you."

Sida shook her head sending her mess of curls flying across her face. "No she won't. She doesn't love me no more. She won't stay with me and daddy."

Charlie sighed and scooped the child up in her arms. "I'll make you a deal, we get you inside my house, and you can play with Jake for a bit while I call your mommy. She has to know where you are," Charlie added as she saw the pout that Sida put on her face. "Come on now Sida Lee. You don't want me getting in trouble right? Then you won't be able to come make cookies and play with Jake anymore."

Sida nodded and Charlie smiled, bringing the small girl into the house. "Alright, stay here, I'm going to get my kids out of the car."

Charlie walked back out and groaned. All she wanted to do was sleep, now she had to worry about getting Sida back to her mom. She knew nothing about Sida's father. She had lived in the house for six months and had never caught a glimpse of him. Hopefully she could get Sida back home without being caught in any sort of family drama. She was dealing with that on her own as it was no sense in adding to it.

"Come on Jake honey, you have to wake up," Charlie stroked her sons face until his eyes opened. Smiling at him she took him out of his car seat and placed him on the ground. "You look more and more like your uncle you know that?" She laughed as a small smile and a yawn were the only responses that she got from him. "Go on inside, the door is already open."

Moving around to the other side, Charlie gently began unbuckling the car seat trying not to wake her two year old baby girl. She smiled as she moved the mounds of curls out of her baby's face. "You look too much like daddy baby."

Charlie walked in the house and sighed as she heard the sounds of running feet from upstairs. It never took much to wake up Jake, or keep him awake. Placing her little girl on the couch Charlie shed her coat and grabbed her phone.

"Hello."

Charlie smiled at the frantic tone that her neighbor had. No doubt she was worried sick about her little girl.

"Hey Sarah its Charlie. Did you happen to lose someone?" Charlie asked quickly. No reason to put Sarah through more hell when she had Chasey upstairs safe and happy for the moment.

"Oh Charlie please tell me that she ran over there?"

"She's here Sarah, upstairs playing with Jake. I don't understand how she made it here in the dark though. The shortest distance to my house still holds a good two acres in between us."

"I don't know what got into her. I just know that she took off running out of the driveway with Mark chasing after her. I guess she just kept going until she found somewhere safe enough. I've been worried sick."

"Well you can stop worrying. I'll get her settled in here until you are ready to come pick her up."

"Thank you so much. I'll send Mark over to get her. He might need a few minutes to calm down before he heads over. Say about a half hour and he'll be there?"

"That sounds just fine," Charlie lied before hanging up the phone.

Truthfully she wanted to do nothing but sleep. And that could be happening in the next ten minutes if she were able to put Jake back to sleep and Jasmine in bed.

Charlie took a moment to collect her fraying nerves and walked up the stairs to warn Sida that her father was on his way.

"Sida honey," Charlie called as she walked into Jake's room causing them to both look up at her. "We need to talk really quick. Jake baby, go into the bathroom and brush your teeth and grab the pajamas you want to wear."

Sida followed Jake out of the room and walked over to Charlie.

"Your daddy is coming to get you soon. I talked to your mommy before. They were very worried about you honey."

"Daddy won't let mommy come with us. If he loved me mommy would come."

Charlie gave Sida an understanding look and pulled her into a hug. "Your parents will always love you no matter what. Now let's go get a little snack before your dad comes and brings you home."

Sida nodded and bounded down the stairs. Charlie laughed and walked to the bathroom.

"I want you in bed Jake. I'll be up in a few minutes to make sure that you are ready to sleep."

It seemed that lately the days never ended. There was always one more thing to do, one more problem to solve. One more phone call from her paranoid over-bearing ex. But those thoughts had to wait. The frustrated tears that wanted to fall down her face had to wait for another time, another day. She had to play good mother, good hostess, and keep a little girl happy until her father came for her.

Charlie pulled out milk and slid a few cookies across the small children's table to Sida.

"You eat those and I'll be right back."

Charlie moved around upstairs putting her kids to bed and changing into her own pajamas. Being at work was bad enough as it was. No reason to stay in her work clothes any longer than she had to.

She had just long enough to make sure that Sida was content in the kitchen before the doorbell sounded.

Charlie ran over to the doorway opening it slightly trying to keep the cold air out and checking to make sure that it really was Sida's father.

"Hi, I'm Mark, Sida's dad. I came to bring her back home."

Charlie nodded and stepped aside to let him in. "Come on in she's in the kitchen."

Charlie's eyes widened in shock as she took in the full mountain of a man that Mark seemed to be, as he stepped into the light of the living room. He seemed to just about touch the ceiling and his wide broad shoulders seemed to take up half the living room by themselves. And his eyes, they seemed to burn a hole right through you. Charlie wondered if they were always as intense as they were at that moment. She smiled as she realized who he was. This was "The Undertaker". The wrestling legend that her sister loved to watch on TV and tell her all about later on. Certain that he didn't want anything that would be perceived as even the nicest of fan encounters Charlie extended her hand out towards him. She was grossly aware that she was in nothing but a small tank top and flannel pants and that standing in front of her was a man that was dangerously attractive in his own way.

"I'm Charlie Baxter, I found Sida in my driveway."

Mark nodded and extended a long arm and giant hand to her. "Mark Callaway. Sida ran off while I was trying to get her in the car."

Mark rubbed the back of his head and looked around uncomfortably. He had no clue what to do. He had never dealt with temper tantrums or run away kids. That wasn't his area. He would come home for a couple days, spin his kids around on his back, take them outside, teach them about sports, put them to bed. And then he'd leave. It would rip his heart a little bit, every time he had to leave his family behind but he did it because he loved them and because he loved his business more than air, more than life itself. But he had never dealt with a tantrum, or a mood swing. Never had to fetch any of his kids from a neighbor's house in the middle of the night.

"I'm sorry about all of this. She shouldn't be bothering ya' like she did. I'll have a good talk with her about it."

Charlie shook her head and waved her hand at him as she started to lead him to the kitchen. "She's not a problem. Granted she didn't have ideal timing, but she is welcomed to come here anytime that she needs to."

Mark followed behind Charlie into the kitchen and smiled when he saw his little girl sitting at a small table happily kicking her feet and slowly eating a few cookies.

"Don't be mad, I know that it's a bit late for cookies, but I needed something to keep her busy while I was busy doing what I had to do."

Mark shook his head and gave in to the flood of relief that washed over him as he stared at his daughter.

"I'm just happy that she's alright. Sida Lee honey, it's time to go," Mark spoke softly noticing the frown on his daughters face.

"I'm not done yet daddy."

"Baby it's late and we've bothered Mrs. Baxter here enough as it is let's get going."

Charlie gave a small giggle and spoke up. "It's miss, and please just Charlie. She's no bother, she can finish up her cookies if she would like. You can make yourself comfortable in the living room if you'd like."

Mark nodded and turned to his daughter. "You hurry it up hear? And don't go getting it into your head that you aren't in trouble."

"So, Mark what happened tonight? If you don't mind me asking." Charlie spoke as she saw Mark's large frame sink into an arm chair.

Mark sighed and gave a small groan. "She kept after me, asking me why her mother wasn't coming with us. We just told her that we are separating for a bit, seeing if we can fix up our marriage. And I know that she can't really handle that, but she can't handle that anymore than she can handle her parents at it like cats and dogs day and night.

"Anyway, I tell her that mommy can't come and it's just me and her for a few days. Tell her that her brothers are going to be there too. But she doesn't care at all about any of that. She just wants mommy and daddy together in the same place at the same time. When I tell her 'no' in no uncertain terms she kicks my shin and takes off running. I don't think I've been so scared in my life."

"I'm sorry, I know that separation is rough on everyone involved but when you add kids it only makes it harder."

"So how come you're in this big old house all on your own? If you don't mind me asking?"

Charlie shrugged and looked at the Christmas tree that was still sitting in front of her bay window. "I didn't do too well picking out a husband. I left him not too long ago. Found this place for rent on a real steal and took it without a second thought."

Mark followed Charlie's line of sight over to the tree looking at the presents stacked underneath it. He smiled to himself as he saw a division between stacks of pink clothes and girl toys and a mound of cars and robots on the other side.

"You have kids of your own?"

Charlie looked back over to him and smiled nodded. "Yea, they're great. I have two kids, one boy one girl. Jake, he's six Sida's age. And Jazzy, she's two. A real firecracker always needs to have things her way or she's not happy. And she'll let you know that she isn't happy."

"Jake and Sida play together a lot?"

Charlie looked at Mark amused. "A couple of times a week, they go to the same elementary school. You sure are inquisitive."

"I'm usually not, I guess I just want to pass the time. Sarah used to complain all too much that I was too quiet."

Charlie laughed and tucked her legs underneath her to get more comfortable. Truth was that as tired as she was, it was nice to have another adult to talk to, another male adult. One to look at, who wasn't bad looking at all. In her mind it was always the bigger the better, and man had a big one just waltzed right into her living room.

"You certainly don't seem very quiet."

Mark shrugged as he looked around the room. "I'm just trying to be a southern gentleman. And they talk to you when you show them hospitality."

"Well maybe you can impart some of that wisdom to my ex. He only seems to be concerned with teaching me some sort of lesson."

Mark looked over at Charlie and couldn't help but feel angry and slightly defensive. He may have been silent and never one for an over abundant amount of romance, but there's was nothing right about hitting a woman, or even thinking about it.

"What do you mean by that?"

Charlie shrugged and let out a long breath of relief as Sida walked into the living room slowly walking towards Mark like she were performing a death march.

"Come here baby girl, I'm not going to hurt you," Mark spoke softly to his daughter, with a slight chuckle in his voice.

Sida climbed into his lap and snuggled into the base of his neck. "I'm all done daddy."

Mark nodded and rubbed his daughters back. "That's good. What do you say to Miss. Baxter?"

"Thank you," Sida said quietly, quickly looking at Charlie before returning her head to the crook of Mark's neck.

"Good girl. Now tomorrow me and you are gonna have a bit of a talk about why mommy can't always come with us anymore. For now it's time for you to get to sleep. You'll be in enough trouble tomorrow."

Charlie smiled and sat quietly watching the interaction between father and daughter. That was what she missed most. Watching her ex-husband being a father, snuggle with his children, and act like an actual decent human being. Of course that wasn't when he was screaming at her, demanding that she cut herself off from friends, family, and anyone that might be any form of emotional support. He was good to the kids, in the fatherly, sit down and have a disciplinary talk type of way; but he had never supported them financially, and she was working herself down to the bone trying to take care of him and the kids.

As Mark sat rubbing Sida's back and reassuring her that he did in fact love her, and that he would always love her no matter what happened with Mommy, Charlie thought over everything that had changed in her life.

She had begun the process of freeing herself from that controlling, manipulative beast that she had called her husband for six years. She was finally talking to her family again, flirting again, and loving who she was again. And she loved every day that brought just a small fraction of who she used to be back to the surface.

She couldn't help the frown that began to play at the corner of her lips. She loved who she was becoming, but she was lonely. Nothing in her life truly felt right. She had no one to truly share her success and failures with. Mark was everything that she was missing. He was a man, a father, a person who could sit back and listen for a time without getting aggravated and telling her just how stupid she sounded.

"Well," Mark's deep voice broke Charlie from her thoughts. "We should be on our way. It's late, and I don't want to impose and further than we have. Thank you for taking care of Sida, I don't know what I would have done if something happened to her."

Charlie smiled and shook her head. "No imposition, she's a wonderful girl and I love having her over. Anytime that you guys want to stop by you go ahead and feel more than welcomed to."

Mark stood from the chair balancing a tired Sida on his hip groaning as he stood up. Twenty years in the wrestling business had been unkind to his body. Colder weather and long days made every move he went to make painful and tedious.

"Thank you for the invitation. I'll have to take you up on that one day," Mark answered easily leaning against the front door. He hadn't flirted with any woman since Sarah, and he was rusty. He just hoped that he could get across the message that he did want to see her again. "We'd both like coming back over here."

Charlie smiled and opened the front door so Mark could leave without having to fuss with the door.

"I'd like that too no doubt. Maybe next time I'll get to show off my kids."

"I'm sure that they are adorable and sweet, just like their mama."

Charlie couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips. "Thank you. Now go get your daughter home. And try and make sure she doesn't run off anymore."

Mark stepped outside and smiled at Charlie once more, thanking her and turning to walk down the driveway to his pickup truck.

"Good night Charlie," Mark called from his truck as he placed Sida in the back.

"Good night Mark. And do me one more favor," Charlie waited until she saw Mark's curious eyes meet hers. "Take it easy on those knees and that body. What would the wrestling business be without Undertaker? I think my sister still wants to watch you for a bit longer."

Mark laughed and nodded in agreement. "I promise that I'll do my best. And tell your sister not to worry, I'm not going anywhere, not anytime soon."

Charlie waved as they drove off and closed her front door. She had no idea what kind of trouble a man like Mark would bring. She only knew that if she had her way, she most definitely wanted to find out for herself.


	2. Chapter 2

Days off came few and far between for Charlie. It almost seemed as if they were a mythological event that someone had made up thousands of years ago. They were tiny bits of hope that were dabbled in front of her on a string and then ripped away at the very last moment. Retail store management was more trouble to her than it was worth; but it somehow paid the bills and kept her and her children happy. So here she was enjoying playing video games with her little boy, and avoiding her phone as if it was covered in anthrax. Determined, now more than ever to get the quality time with her kids that she had been craving so desperately, Charlie turned off her cell phone and refused to look at her house phone. Her staff would be able to survive for one day without her, or her advice over the phone.

She had been so immersed in her day with her children that she hadn't realized that it was already close to one and time for her daughters nap. And as she grabbed her daughter and headed towards the stairs with a very sleepy toddler who was near sleep the sound of the doorbell had Charlie and her kids startled out of their peaceful morning.

Charlie turned to her daughter who was now staring intently at the front door and gave her a smile. "You want mommy to go answer the door huh? Alright come on let's go see who it is."

Charlie walked over to the window and was surprised to see the same black pickup truck that was parked outside her house just last night. Slowly opening the door she smiled first at Sida Lee who seemed much happier and took her time letting her eyes travel up the full length of Mark's figure.

Everything that Charlie had thought about the man last night was right, only he looked better in the daylight. The sun seemed to make his eyes sparkle just a bit more, and at that moment she couldn't think of anything that could possibly be sexier than the man leaning on the doorframe with an uncertain smile playing on his lips. With his hair pulled back and sunglasses perched on the top his head Charlie found him incredibly attractive. And the leather jacket that he wore only served to make him look that much more muscular and large.

"What are you guys doing here?" She asked not bothering to hide her surprise.

Mark laid one large hand on his daughters shoulder and gave a large smile. "Seems that Sida couldn't wait to come over and play with your boy. Her brothers are older than her and tend to leave her out, she gets bored real easy. I tried telling her that you'd be busy and we couldn't just drop by but she wasn't listening. I told her the next time I was in town we could come by but she didn't want to wait. I'm sorry. "

Charlie adjusted her daughter on her hip and waved her two guests inside the house. "Don't be silly, come on in. I was just playing some video games and getting this peanut head ready to go up to take a nap. You are both welcomed to spend some time here. Jake's in the den," Charlie whispered to Sida and laughed as she took off like a shot towards the den.

"So this is your daughter?" Mark asked admiring the tiny little girl who was trying to hide in her mother's neck.

"Yes, this is Jasmine, my little princess. Can you say hi baby?"

Mark chuckled when she only tried to bury her face further in her mother's neck. "She's adorable, just like I thought she'd be."

Charlie blushed and smiled. "Thank you, she really is something. Everyone thinks she's too cute, and she knows how to use it to her advantage."

Mark smiled and shook his head. "I think they all know how to do that."

Charlie led Mark to the living room. "I have to put her down for a nap, but please sit down and relax. I'm sure by now Sida and Jake are in the den playing video games and having plenty of time. You can turn on the TV, kick back and enjoy. I'll be back down as soon as I can."

Charlie tried her best to calmly walk up the stairs as her heart pounded inside her chest. Mark showing up on her doorstep had been completely unexpected and surprising. She had opened her doors to the pair last night not thinking that he would ever take her up on it, especially not so soon. Laying her daughter down in her bed and covering her with blankets Charlie raced back to her room to find a pair of jeans and shirt that might make her feel a little more attractive in front of the large, extremely attractive man sitting in her living room.

Throwing on a simple screen tee and a pair of jeans that made Charlie feel like she had the curves that she dreamt of daily she made her way downstairs once more, her heart pounding harder with every step that she took.

Mark couldn't help the smile that formed the minute he saw Charlie enter the living room. She was so cute and petite, but then again standing nearly seven feet tall most people were petite compared to him.

"I hope I didn't put you out at all by just stopping by. I asked Sarah for your number but you didn't pick up when I called," Mark stood to his feet as Charlie walked in and offered apologies for showing up unannounced.

"Don't worry about it; it's no problem at all. You were actually lucky to catch me at all; this is my first real day off in nearly three weeks. And I'm sorry about not answering, I'm avoiding the phone. I don't want to get a call from work and have to go in last minute. I need time with my kids."

Mark nodded his head in agreement and sank back into the couch trying to get his large frame comfortable. "I definitely know the feeling. It's so hard to get free time, and I feel like I should be doing something extra now that Sarah and I are separating. Sida is so confused about the whole thing and I don't know how to explain it to her the right way."

Charlie patted his knee and gave a sympathetic smile. "I know. Telling Jake wasn't easy, especially when I have to pretend like his daddy is a saint, and the most wonderful man on earth."

Mark cleared his throat and looked around slightly uncomfortable. He wasn't one to poke around in people's personal lives; but something about the way Charlie talked about her ex husband made Mark curious.

"I take it you don't like him?" He asked after a long pause.

Charlie shook her head and looked down at the floor. "It's more complicated than that but when it comes down to it, I guess you could say no, I really don't like him." Charlie stood and fixed her shirt as she waved her arm at Mark. "Follow me; I'll make us all some lunch."

"You don't need to make us lunch, I can always take Sida out somewhere to eat in a few minutes."

Charlie put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "No way, I am hungry which means I'm going to go in there and cook, and Jake needs to eat which means I'm going to cook something for him as well. And there is no way that I am going to let you break up a perfectly good play date just because you feel like you are imposing."

The truth was that Charlie didn't want Mark to leave. Something about his presence calmed her down. He was the strong silent type that never made a move unless completely thought through, and Charlie liked that. He was a stark contrast to everything that she had been used to in a man, and it made Mark all that more attractive to her.

Mark smiled and stood up. "Alright little one, we'll stay, but I'm helping you fix up the lunch. I don't want you waiting hand and foot on us."

Charlie let out a laugh and walked with Mark into the kitchen. "You obviously don't know what it's like to grow up in a Latin household. Guests never do anything when they come over, and they eat a feast."

"Well a southern gentlemen always helps a woman out," Mark countered as he leaned on the kitchen counter watching Charlie walk around getting various things to make lunch. "So is Charlie short for something?"

Charlie turned and cocked an eyebrow at Mark. "Wow, that didn't take very long. Normally people wait quite a while before asking. No, Charlie is not short for anything. My parents were expecting a boy and when I came out they just kept the name. My mother thought it was a cute, unique name for her little girl."

"Well somehow it works for you and that spunky attitude you have."

Before Charlie could respond her phone began ringing. Her first instinct was to rip it from the kitchen wall that it was hanging on and take the greatest pleasure in watching it being run over with her car. The phone had been ringing non-stop all morning and it was now cutting into her time with Mark. The only possible time that she had with him. She sighed and walked over to it. It was time to face the real world, and the fact that her work probably had at least ten natural disasters happen to them since she wasn't in for the day.

"Hello," she answered unenthusiastically. "Oh, hey Matt, what's up?"

Mark's ears perked up as he listened to the unpleased tone that Charlie had suddenly taken with whoever was on the phone.

"No, Jake is playing with Sida right now and I'm kind of busy. Can I have him call you back?"

Mark walked next to her and helped as she prepared some homemade macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. He liked being next to Charlie, the mere touch of their bodies sent a heat through Mark that he hadn't felt since first meeting Sarah. But he also wanted to be able to hear who was on the other end. Charlie had been silent for a long while and her face had been continually falling the longer she was on the phone.

"Matt, you just saw the kids yesterday how am I keeping them from you? I'm trying to make the kids lunch and I'm not going to stop what I'm doing right now. Jake is busy and so am I, I'll have him call you back."

Mark cringed at the acidic tone that Charlie was taking on. Yet, he was more surprised still by the soft way that she finished all of her statements. As if she were spiteful and full of hate for the man on the phone but couldn't bear to upset him.

"Charlie, where are the cups? I just want to get the kids some juice," Mark asked, both wanting to get lunch on the counter and let his presence known to whoever was on the phone. He was never one to be easily intimidated and he wasn't about to walk around on egg shells until Charlie hung up the phone.

Charlie turned to Mark and smiled as her insides jumped and turned. She knew that it wasn't fair to ask Mark to be quiet so that he wouldn't upset her ex, but she hated fighting with him because she had a life outside of her marriage and her kids.

Covering the mouth piece with her hand Charlie pointed to a cabinet on the opposite side of the kitchen. "The cups are in there. Anything you give them, just make sure it has a top. With the two of them together they like to run and drink at the same time."

"Thanks."

Charlie smiled at Mark and watched as his long, lithe body moved across the kitchen. Even through his long sleeved shirt she could see the way that his muscles flexed simply by walking and reaching in front of him for some cups. She licked her lips and smiled at the dirty thoughts that had begun to fly through her mind. Mark was a beautiful specimen of a man and she had gone far too long with a man's touch.

"Anything that you don't want Jake drinking?"

Mark's deep voice broke Charlie out of her daydream as she caught Mark's amused eyes dancing with laughter. She knew that she had to look like a deer caught in headlights but she didn't care. Part of her wanted Mark to know that she was staring and lusting after him. She shook her head no and turned her attention back to the phone.

"Sorry Matt what were you saying?"

Mark fixed the kids two plates and cups of juice and headed out of the kitchen. He wanted to stay to find out what was happening on the phone, but he knew that the kids would be hungry and that had to come first.

He stood by the entryway to the den and watched with contentment as Jake and Sida laughed and raced around in some video game that he'd never be able to remember the name of. It was the first time that he was able to see Sida happy and without any reservations. She wasn't watching him with worried eyes waiting until the next fight with her mother, or asking him why things with Sarah couldn't work out. Here she was a child, a happy carefree child.

"Hey you two, lunch time."

Jake looked up at Mark and gave a shy smile. "Hi, I'm Jacob, what's your name?" he asked walking up to Mark and extending his hand.

Mark bent down and took Jake's hand in his. "I'm Mark, Sida Lee's daddy. It's very nice to meet you. Mommy sent me in here to give you your lunch. Would you like to eat?"

He laughed as Jacob nodded and ran off to the dining room area. Charlie was right, her kids were both adorable.

Mark headed back to the kitchen and was surprised to see Charlie leaning on the kitchen counter with tears running down her face.

"You don't know what you're talking about Matt. I am not letting you talk to him and you aren't talking to Jake until you calm down."

Mark stood next to her and cleared his throat. "Want me to talk to him?"

Charlie shook her head and shot up angry eyes at Mark. "No way, he has no right even asking who is over at my own house. Matt I'm hanging up now, and don't bother coming to get the kids tomorrow because you aren't seeing them until you get your head straight."

Charlie sighed as she hung up the phone and threw on the counter not caring if it were to break or not.

"So he asked about me?" Mark asked as Charlie took a moment to compose herself once more.

"More like asked how long I've been sleeping with you. Don't worry about it, he does this with everything. It's just him making an excuse to be able to call me a whore and a slut and tell me that I'm never going to see my kids once we go to court for the divorce."

Mark gave a low growl and stood up straight. "I could talk to him if you want. It wouldn't be a problem."

Charlie shook her head and got two plates to fix lunch for both her and Mark. "No, I'll deal with him. He's harmless really."

"He doesn't sound harmless. He's on the phone calling you names and threatening you to get me on the phone."

"He wasn't threatening me he was just in the heat of the moment."

"In the heat of what moment?"

"He is a bit paranoid about who his kids are around and what I'm doing while I'm home with them."

Mark gave a frustrated sigh and shook his head. "You can put me on the phone with him the next time that he wants to try and get all tough with you. I don't understand why you're defending him though."

Charlie shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not defending him I just know how he is."

Mark put his head down as he tried to calm his nerves. How a woman had just been talked to like Charlie had and still spoke well of the low life was beyond him, but at this point it wasn't his business either.

"Are you sure you're ok?" he finally asked the one question that had been on his mind since she answered the phone.

Charlie laughed and handed Mark a plate. "I am fine. I'm still trying to figure out how Sarah can say you're quiet. You come over here and you're all chatter."

Mark shrugged and headed over to the dining room table. "I guess you bring it out in me."

"Matt never liked to talk. Never liked to do much of anything with me." Charlie sat at the table and wiped away the few tears that were still on her face. "I hate this. I never cry because I'm sad, or upset. I only cry when I'm angry. He just makes me so angry. After eight years of being together, and me working to hold everything together, now he wants to try and fix it. Now he wants to call every day and tell me how much he loves me and how he simply can't live without me."

Mark sat silent, not knowing what to say. He knew that Charlie had a lot of built up anger and resentment, he just wasn't sure if he was the man to listen to all of it. He knew that after two failed marriages he didn't exactly have whatever it takes to hold on to his partner. Sooner or later they all got tired of his being on the road constantly, or his quiet demeanor at home.

"Sometimes men just don't know how to say it," Mark said finally staring intently at the table. "Sometimes we just can't look at her and say what we feel. And other times we just have our heads shoved so far up our butts that we can't fully pull them out to make things right." Mark looked over at his daughter still eating and laughing with her seemingly best friend. "No matter who gets hurt in the process."

"Is that what happened to you?" Charlie asked watching Mark's sad expression. "You couldn't make it right in time?"

Mark nodded. "That and other things. What about you?"

"I wasn't in love with him anymore. Haven't been for a very long time. He was never willing to make it right, or to do anything to help the relationship. I moved on and out, and he isn't willing to accept that."

"How long have you been separated?"

Charlie looked up towards the ceiling as she thought over the answer. "Probably about the last six months. It's been rough. Luckily enough I found cheap enough day care for Jazz so I can work around the clock like I need to, to support them. God I can't even remember the last time I had a day off."

Mark leaned back in his chair and watched as Charlie talked about whatever happened to be on her mind. She told him about her job and how she hated it as much as she needed it. Everything from the rest of her family, which she missed terribly in New York, to Sidda and Jacob's teacher at school. And somehow he didn't mind. The conversation between the two flowed easily too both parties surprise.

And as Jasmine made her way down the stairs into her mother's waiting arms Mark couldn't help but smile and find it attractive that Charlie was such a dedicated mother. No matter where they were in the conversation she always had a hug, a kiss, or a stern warning for the kids when necessary.

"Will you stay for dinner?" Charlie asked as she checked the time on the clock noticing that it was creeping up on six at night.

Mark shook his head and stood from his chair. "No," he said with a small grunt. "I won't impose any longer. I'll take Sida home for some dinner and spend some one on one time with her."

"Are you sure?"

Mark noted the disappointment in Charlie's voice and gave a small nod of his head. "I'm sure. You need time with your kids and I've been taking that up. Besides I need to go home and make sure my boys haven't burned down my house."

Charlie laughed and stood up from her chair. "Alright, I'll go break up the party."

Her life had been good for the day. From the moment that Mark had shown up Charlie had forgotten about all of the problems that loomed over her. She had a friend, a man, someone who could understand just how sick of love she was. Yet at the same turn how badly she craved the true form of it. She had spent her life taking care of herself, and more recently her husband and children. It didn't matter how many times she had fallen on her face, somehow she had always made it back to her feet. But today was a nice reprieve. A moment to fantasize that instead of doing all of this alone, she had a friend, a partner, and more importantly someone to spend her long nights with.

It was that very same reason that Mark stood awkwardly at Charlie's front door unsure of what to do. He wanted to take her in his arms and gave her a soft kiss, let her see just what she had been missing for so very long. But he had no right, and no indication that she had any desire for that to happen.

"I'm going back on the road day after tomorrow," he started as he rubbed his hand over the pony tail sitting in the back of his head. "I won't be making it home for a couple of weeks. We're doing South America, and then Canada. But I'd like it if we could talk during that time."

Charlie smiled brightly and reached in the back pocket of her jeans to get out her phone. "I would really like that."

"Good, because I would have just gotten your cell phone number from Sarah even if you said no," Mark joked as he entered his number in Charlie's phone and looked for her number in the process.

"I would never say no to you."

Mark stared at Charlie for a long moment trying to memorize her face. The curls that flew about her face, her dark brown eyes that expressed every last emotion that they held, her plump lips that almost begged to be kissed. It would be the last time he would see her for a while, and he wanted the image to last.

"Maybe when I get back we can go out. Just you and me, some dinner, some talk, some wine."

Charlie smiled through her shock at being asked out by Mark and nodded her head. "I would really like that."

Mark bent down and wrapped Charlie in a hug until she had all but disappeared until his large muscular frame. He was nervous about her saying no and had been flooded with relief when she agreed.

"Then I'll see you when I get back," he said quickly before making his way into the night with Sida right beside him looking on with all the admiration in the world for her father.

Charlie closed the door and pressed her back up against it. The smell of musk and leather still caught in her nostrils from Mark's hug. The man looked and smelled amazing, and the more time that she spent with him, the more certain she was that he was walking sex. Mark would bring trouble, a serious fight with her ex, but she couldn't care at the moment. There was nothing to worry about when the feeling of Mark's arms were still on her skin and his scent still making her float upon clouds.

Even as her cell phone vibrated in her pocket signaling another phone call from her ex, and another fight as well, Charlie could not wipe the smile off of her face.

"What's up Matt?" She answered with more happiness in her voice than she had felt in a long time.

* * *

**I just want to say thank you for all the wonderful reviews from pinktiff1989, Paola65, Inday, Fozzy-Floozy, sailormama and Takersgurl35 and I hope to have them keep on coming so keep on reviewing**

**P.S. Takersgurl35- I love your stories they are great stuff you rock it!!**

**Ok Now I'm out and remember please review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Charlie walked around with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. She simply couldn't help it. Mark had made sure to at least text her once a day to let her know that she was on his mind. And it elated Charlie more than words could describe for her. He was going out of his way to show affection; something that Charlie had never fully experienced before and it felt wonderful.

Mark still wasn't home for another two days, and then they would finally be going out to dinner. Charlie had already arranged for someone to take care of the kids. She wouldn't leave it up to her ex. Not because she didn't trust him with them, but simply because she didn't want to have to answer any more questions about Mark. It seemed to be all that Matt would ask her about. No matter how many times she told him it simply was none of his business.

Matt was already convinced that she already slept with Mark and was ready to run away and marry the man. And although the former was certainly something Charlie would love to have happen, she found it beyond ludicrous that her ex would even be able to form any such notion. She had only known Mark for a few weeks, and had only spent time with him physically on two occasions. She couldn't even convince herself that what was between her and Mark was any sort of relationship. Although, it had all the possibilities to be.

The ringing of her cell phone brought Charlie back to reality and sent her on a frantic search for her phone. Mark would be calling soon and she didn't want to miss it.

Reaching the phone in the nick of time Charlie flipped it open without checking the caller id and began hoping desperately to hear the deep voice of Mark float through the receiver.

"Charlie Baxter," she said answering the phone nearly breathless.

"Did you just finish running or something little one?"

Charlie broke out in a huge smile and gave a soft laugh. She was acting like a school girl once more but how could she care? On the other end of the phone was one of the most gorgeous men that she had ever been fortunate to lay eyes on.

"Sort of, I heard my phone go off and ran around looking for it. I didn't want to miss your call. So how are you today Mark?"

Mark gave a deep laugh and sighed in contentment. He couldn't help but feel at ease with everything when he was talking to Charlie. Something about her relaxed him. He felt no need to be too manly or grim like his wrestling character. Not to say that he wasn't hard and over bearing by nature; but there was no need to prove it. It was like somehow she already knew what he was like, all facets of his personality and was fine with every one of them.

"I'm doing alright today. I miss being home, miss my kids. But I just got two more days before I got a whole week off."

"A week, really? I thought you said you didn't know what time off was like?" Charlie countered good naturedly. She knew exactly what he had to go through to get where he was now and she loved to tease him about trying to take it easier these days. "That you were always working."

"Now little one don't go thinking that you can get all smart with me. I've been in this business too long to not be given time off after doing all this travelling."

Charlie laughed and sat down on her bed settling in for the nightly conversation that they now seemed to have made habitual.

"I know you have Mark, I'm just teasing. I'm actually really glad that you'll be home for a week. It'll give the kids a chance to play. Maybe we can take them somewhere together. That is, if I can get a day off. The store has been a madhouse. And everyone wants to whine and complain, but no one can take responsibility."

"Why don't you just quit. You know that you hate the place."

Charlie sighed and tried to hide her snort of impatience at Mark's idea. He said every time that she talked about work. And although quitting seemed like the logical thing to do, it just wasn't possible. Any time off without a job and a paycheck was impossible. She needed to work and bring home money every week. She didn't enjoy the same privileges as Mark did. They worked practically the same amount of time, as ironic as that was. But she didn't pull in the money like he did. She was on a strangle hold with money. And as long as she kept floating some money to Matt who still was not working, she would continue to be strapped for money.

"You know that I would, if I could, Mark. I want to, I really do, and it's just not in the cards for me. I don't have the time to look for another job, or the leeway to go and look for another one. I don't have any extra money right now. I need to work."

"I know you do little one. I just wish you could do it someplace where you were happier."

"So do I. But enough about that tell me about the whole trip and what it's been like travelling."

Mark's face broke out in a smile. It didn't matter that Charlie wasn't there in front of him, or that she couldn't tell he would be smiling by the interest that she took in his work, his life. Just hearing her voice, talking with her like they had known each other for years, was enough to make Mark's stomach flip and take off some of that grumpy edge he had been becoming notorious for as of late.

Although Mark didn't truly want to sit there and talk about his work related trip during the one phone conversation he would have with Charlie for that day, he knew that she was interested. She was interested in him, in his work, in what he loved to do most. And if Charlie wanted to hear about his life on the road than that was what he was going to do for her.

Charlie listened intently as she changed into pajamas and crawled under the covers of her bed. She loved that Mark always called late at night. She was able to sit through the conversation without interruptions. Jacob had taken a real liking to Mark, and demanded to talk to him anytime that they were on the phone. But when Mark called after the kids were asleep Charlie could sit back and listen to the low timber of Mark's voice roll through her like no one's ever had.

Charlie knew the first time that she sat and talked with Mark that it wouldn't matter what he said to her. His voice was like a drug to her. She yearned for a fix first thing in the morning, and couldn't stop itching to hear him one more time before she went off to sleep. He calmed her down. And with her world being such a mess of ups and downs with her job, her ex, and trying to adjust to being on her own, it was a large feat to be able to bring a small bit of happiness to her.

As Charlie yawned she heard a beep come across the receiver and looked to see that someone else was trying to call.

"Mark, I have to go, I have another call coming in."

Mark tried to hide the disappointment in his voice at having to say goodbye to Charlie so early on in their conversation. He would be able to see her in two days. Forty eight hours was nothing compared to the two weeks that he had already been through not being home and being able to spend time with her.

"Ok little one. I'll see you Wednesday night then. We're still on right?"

"Of course we are," Charlie answered back quickly. "I have a friend watching the kids for the night and if you aren't there then we are going to have problems."

Mark chuckled and said his goodnights as Charlie switched phone calls dreading her conversation with Matt.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Matt's deep voice came through the receiver still able to give Charlie the butterflies. It was easy enough to have happen when she was caught off guard by him. Their relationship had ended badly and she would never truly be over being in love with him. No matter how thoroughly she was over being in a relationship with the man, she couldn't leave him out to dry if he had any problems.

"Char, I have a problem."

"What now Matt?"

"My money didn't come through this month and I have to pay my phone bill before they cut it off."

Charlie gave a disgusted sigh and fought the urge to curse him out. "Matt that isn't my problem anymore. Besides I have no extra money this month. I already gave you money when you lost your wallet and the four hundred dollars inside of it."

"So what am I supposed to do Charlie? I need my phone. How can we call each other about the kids?"

"What about the little skank that you've been hanging around lately? She's been paying for your stuff since I left your lazy butt."

"Well her parents have money, I can't help it if she wants to help me out. She's on vacation and she won't be back until after I need the money."

"Sorry Matt it's not my fault, not my problem. It's either getting groceries for the kids or your phone and the kids are more important."

"Fine, you don't want to help then don't," Matt spat out.

Charlie cleared her throat and held the phone away from her ear as Matt yelled and spat out numerous berating remarks and curses. She was used to this, it didn't faze her anymore. He continually lashed out at her, and then moved on to the next topic that was on his mind.

"Are you done?" Charlie asked after a few minutes of listening to incoherent mumbling. "It's late and I want to get to sleep some time before sunrise Matt."

"What, you move out and now you don't want to talk to me anymore? You don't have time for me?"

"Matt, I don't mind talking to you and I always make time for you. Now is there anything else that you want?"

"When are you going to drop the kids off again?"

Charlie sat silent for moment thinking over her work schedule and when she would be able to make the twenty minute drive and spare the hour to fight, to get the kids over to their father. It would be easier if Matt had a car, but that would be asking for a miracle. Charlie had taken their car when she left. She had fully paid for it after all. There was no way she was leaving it behind for Matt.

"Friday I would say. I'm working Thursday night and I'm off early on Friday, so I'll bring them by Friday afternoon."

"What about tomorrow?"

"I'm working tomorrow Matt."

"After you get off then."

Charlie groaned and knew that she would have to tell him what she had been trying to keep out of conversation for the last week. "I'm going out tomorrow night. Shannon, my friend from work is coming over to watch the kids."

"You're going out tomorrow? With who?"

"I'm going out to dinner with Mark, and I have Shannon already coming over to watch them. I'll bring them by on Friday."

"Why can't I watch them tomorrow night?"

"I don't have the time to drop them off at your place. They'll see you Friday."

"You won't let me take them when you take your time to go and bang the next door neighbor?"

"Goodnight Matt," Charlie said through gritted teeth flipping her phone shut and banging her head down onto her pillow.

She should have known that ending the call with Mark to talk to Matt would only frustrate her. She could have fallen asleep with Mark's voice in her ears instead of fighting the tears that were threatening to fall. She could have heard the sexy seductive tone that Mark seemed to talk naturally in while saying goodnight. And her dreams could have been filled with wonderful fantasies of what could just be if things were to go well Wednesday night. Now Charlie would simply have to deal with fighting off the bad dreams, and memories of fights long since passed.

* * *

Wednesday proved to be a rush of activity. The store was busier than Charlie had yet to see it during the middle of the week, and it kept her on her toes. There's was too much to do before she needed to leave to get ready for her date. But that wouldn't stop Charlie from leaving at five on the dot. Anything else would be able to wait until tomorrow. And anything that couldn't would be left to the manager for the night.

And as she pulled into the driveway and rushed her kids inside she couldn't help the smile that seemed permanently etched onto her face. After two weeks she would finally get to see Mark face to face. The thought was as exciting as it was nerve wrecking.

"Hey Jake," Charlie called out as she poked her head in her sons room. "I'm going to go out with Mark tonight. Shannon is going to come and stay with you, you remember her right?"

Jake nodded his head and smiled at his mother. "She played video games with me. Is Sidda going to come with Mark?"

Charlie shook her head. "No baby not today."

"Can I go with you?"

Charlie laughed and shook her head once more. "No, but in a few days what do you say we go out somewhere special."

Jacob nodded and Charlie placed a kiss on his head before running back to her room to finish getting ready for the night.

As she got Jasmine used to the idea that Shannon was going to be with her instead of her mother, the sound of the doorbell sent Charlie's heartbeat racing.

"That's him," she said flashing Shannon a large smile. "I'll be right back."

Leaving the trio in the den laughing at cartoons Charlie ran over to the door and opened it before she could second guess herself.

Mark let out a sigh of relief and gave a huge smile as Charlie flung open the door and stepped aside to let him in.

"Hi stranger," she said extending her arms for a hug.

Mark bent down and wrapped Charlie in a hug and took her scent. It felt so good to hold her again, to see her, to physically be with her. After two weeks her voice was not enough to sustain him anymore. He needed to be able to see her, and touch her. He wanted to see if he could make Charlie shiver under his gentle touches. If He still had what was necessary to make him irresistible to a woman.

"Hey yourself," he said softly releasing her from his tight grip. "You ready to get going?"

Charlie nodded and took his hand leading him towards the den. "Just want to say goodbye first and then we're off."

Mark let Charlie keep him at an arm's length as he looked over what she was wearing and how she looked. He smiled at the low rise denim jeans that seemed to fit her just right, and let his eyes wander up to the tight black lacy top that she had on. He couldn't stop staring, and only took that as a good thing. Charlie had somehow managed to dress seductively, and classy all at once.

"Hi Mark!" Mark looked down to see the small boy smiling and hugging his leg the best he could with his small arms.

Mark squatted down throwing an arm around Jake, pulling him onto his knee. "Hey little man, how you doing today? You've been good for your mama while I was away?"

Jake nodded and smiled. "And I played with Sida at school."

"I know, she told me all about it when I spoke to her on the phone."

Charlie looked around startled when the doorbell sounded once more. She had been so wrapped in watching Mark talk to Jake, and eye Jasmine who was watching with curious eyes. She wasn't aware of anyone else bothering to stop by.

"I'll be right back," she said with a warm smile as she laid a hand on Marks shoulder. As he nodded she left the den once more and walked to the door.

There was no stopping the groan that escaped from her lips or the rapid beating of her heart once she saw the person she least expected standing on her doorstep.

"Matt," she said with a hint of questioning in her voice as she blocked the doorway to keep him from coming in. "What are you doing here?"

"I just thought that since you 'didn't have time' to drop off the kids I would come here."

Charlie rolled her eyes at the sarcasm and disdain that was dripping from his voice. She had never put anything past him before, but even for Matt this was a bit over the line.

"I really didn't have time Matt, I only got home an hour ago and now I'm ready to go back out, so just hop back in the cab and go back home."

"I'll just stay here with the kids," he said trying to make a motion in the door.

Charlie stepped in his way once more and shook her head. "It's not happening Matt. Shannon is already here watching them, now please just go."

"No Char, I came out here to see them and I'm going to see them."

Charlie gave him a stern look and stepped fully onto the stoop closing the door behind her. "I know what you're trying to do and it isn't going to work. You are not going in there and you aren't seeing them. You need to go home and cool down."

"What am I supposed to do call another cab and spend money I don't have to get back home?"

"You came out here you can find a way back home. I already told you that I don't have any extra money for you, so what are you doing here?"

"I want to see my kids."

Charlie lowered her head as she counted to ten. She knew that it would serve no purpose in curbing her temper. This man was manic, in all behaviors. He was depressed, happy, hyper, or unwilling to move for days. He could go from silent to talkative, docile to harsh, and easy going to extremely angry all in a matter of moments. He worked her every nerve almost every time that she saw him. And right now he was doing a major number on her patience.

"Go home Matt. You know that you aren't allowed to see the kids when you get like this. I can't trust you. I can't trust what you're going to say about me. Now go home."

The door swung open and Charlie gave a large groan as Marks deep voice broke the silence that was falling between her and Matt. "Is everything alright out here?"

Charlie nodded and gave a weak smile to Mark as she turned and met his eye. "Just grand. Mark, meet Matt. Matt, this is Mark."

Mark extended his hand and applied ample pressure onto Matt's hand when they awkwardly shook hands.

"Nice to meet you," Mark said trying to keep polite and calm. He had heard raised voices and knew that things weren't right.

"Hey man, I know you. What, no eyeliner today?"

Mark gave a sick angry smile and leaned against the doorframe. "Some people are smart enough to know the difference between reality and what they see on TV. Guess you aren't one of them huh?"

Charlie gave a satisfied smirk as Matt stood dumbfounded unable to think of a reply. "Go home Matt," she said stepping inside once more and locking the door behind her. "Sorry about that. He just decided to show up."

"Doesn't seem to like me too much."

Charlie shrugged and walked back to the den. "Now that he's lost me, he finally decides that he wants me."

She said nothing more on the subject as she hugged and kissed her kids goodbye and gave last minute instructions to Shannon that weren't necessary.

* * *

Mark and Charlie both sat in the booth of a small quiet bar enjoying the time without kids, pressure from the job, or presumptions on what the date was supposed to be like. They both were hurting over a major breakup. It seemed to be an unspoken agreement that neither would try to make something out of what they had going. They were simply two people enjoying the other's company. Mark could be himself. He felt as if he could talk to her about anything. Something that he hadn't felt with other women. Sarah was an amazing woman, but somewhere along the way they had lost what had brought them together in the first place. He was beginning to rediscover it all with Charlie. She was simple, beyond sweet, and no matter what, she always seemed to think the best of people.

And Mark had soon discovered that behind that sweet face was vocal talent that was simply amazing. He knew that she would never get recognized in a small bar with a small karaoke center, but Charlie was stunning when she went up on that small stage. If he could admit that he was ready to fall in love once more, he would have admitted that in the moment he heard her sing a very sultry version of "Sexual Healing", he was falling in love with her.

"How was I?" Charlie asked as she took her seat once more with a large smile on her face.

"I think every man in the room wants you," Mark growled. He tried to be jealous but pride over took him first. He was proud to be with her, to be seen with her, to know that she wanted to be with him. "You never said you were that good."

"Singing is the one thing I've always been good at, that always made me happy."

Before Mark could respond Charlie's phone rang. She gave an apologetic look before reaching in her purse and answering her phone. Mark watched as her face fell the longer the one sided conversation continued, until the phone finally slipped through Charlie's fingers back into her purse.

"What's wrong?" Mark questioned as she looked up with watery eyes.

"It's Matt. He's—he's had a heart attack. He's in the ICU and they aren't sure if he's going to make it through the night. I have to go," she rushed out as she stood up abruptly knocking the table and sending the glasses tumbling.

Mark threw money down on the table not caring if it was too much or not enough. He signaled someone to clean up the mess and quickly followed Charlie out into the parking lot, in the chilly winter air. Somehow finding the strength and kindness in his heart to send up a quick prayer that Charlie wouldn't have to deal with all the grief and pain that would accompany Matt's sudden death, if that were to be the case.

* * *

**Thank you for all of the great reviews all of you rock!! And I've gotten a few reviews about how much Matt is a lowlife scumbag and the only emotion that resonates when it comes to him is anger or disgust and that's exactly what it's supposed to be... so don't be afraid to hate him you're supposed to ;)**

**And keep leaving the reviews**


	4. Chapter 4

Slipping her key into the front door, Charlie jumped at hearing her name being called from the street. Her heartbeat began to quicken once she realized who the voice belonged to. She didn't need to turn around to know who was walking towards her. His deep voice had been in almost all of her dreams as of late. She had been unable to shake the man, even in her dreams. Even after she had been avoiding him for the last week.

"Charlie, you're actually home."

Charlie turned and couldn't help the smile that came to her face. Mark seemed to be able to make her world just a bit happier without any effort. He brought her a sense of peace and serenity that she was beginning to love.

"Hey Mark, come on in," she said happily, swinging open the door and motioning for him to follow her inside.

Dropping her purse and keys onto an end table Charlie sank down onto the couch, shedding her coat and getting comfortable. As she did she took the time to take in Mark's full appearance. He looked just as handsome as the last she had seen him. With the stress of the last week Charlie was slightly afraid that she had built up Mark's masculine beauty in her dreams just to be able to find a place to escape to. Her dreams had made Mark so involved in them she was relieved to see that he was every bit of beautiful that had been in her mind. He took his time falling into place next to her, folding his body nearly in half to sit down. It always made Charlie giggle a bit to see how tall Mark was. He was so much more than an ordinary man, and she loved to stare at him.

As she looked over his face Charlie could see the worry lying in the back of Mark's eyes. But she also saw all the relief as well. His eyes seemed to hold a slight twinkle to them as he took the time to study the slight smile upon his face.

"So, what brings you by?" Charlie asked finally breaking the silence between the two of them.

"I thought that would be obvious; you, of course. I've been trying to call you all week but you never picked up. So I finally decided to just stop on by on the off chance that you might be here."

"I'm sorry about not picking up and not calling you back; that was wrong of me. I've just been incredibly busy this last week Mark. Matt begged me into staying with him for two days, so I've spent the last three days pulling double shifts and making up for lost time."

"You've been taking care of Matt?" Mark asked trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

He was in no position to judge Charlie's actions; and he certainly had no right to claim her small amount of free time, but he wanted to. He wanted to demand that she leave the bottom feeding- scum sucking- low life- sleaze ball alone for good. He almost felt the need to be King Kong, beat his chest, roar loudly and drag his beautiful damsel deeper into his forest to keep her to himself.

Mark and Charlie were at the beginning of something that could have been wonderful. Of course that was if the hospital hadn't called her that night. If things had gone differently Mark might be sitting beside her, holding her, kissing her, slowly seducing her into his bed. Now though, all Mark could feel was frustration and disappointment for what he lost, and for what could have been.

"I haven't exactly been taking care of him. It's just that by the time I got to the hospital he already walked out against the doctor's orders and made his way back to his place. The doctor said he needed someone to help him out for a couple of days. So, after Matt begging and pleading for a few hours on end, I stayed. I took some time to help him out here and there. It was only until his sister came into town." Charlie gave a deep sigh to release some of the tension and turned towards Mark smiling. "Enough about that though. Tell me about your week off."

Matt shrugged his massive shoulders and smiled thinking about the time that he got to share with his children.

"It was nice, relaxing, and absolutely wonderful to be able to spend that much time with my kids. Speaking of which, where are your two rugrats?"

Charlie gave a bright smile at the mention of her kids. "Spending the night at their fathers. I needed to take care of a few things here and I have no more energy to go back and get the kids."

"Is he well enough to take care of them properly?" Mark questioned quickly. It never crossed his mind that he shouldn't be so nosy, or so worried over two kids that he'd only spoken to and seen a handful of times. All he knew was that he felt a quick surge of concern and devotion for this family.

"He's still pretty weak but his sister is with him so it's ok. She'll help out with whatever he can't do. She might not like me very much but she loves my kids. I know she'll take care of them."

Mark gave a quick nod and before he could stop himself began to question further. "Why doesn't his sister like you?"

Charlie gave a cold hard chuckle, and looked straight into Mark's eyes. "She keeps saying that I caused Matt's heart attack. "

"Charlie you can't actually think that you are the reason-"

"If we hadn't fought he would be fine. He's always had a problem with his heart. Getting stressed out just makes it worse," Charlie said interrupting Mark. It had been sitting inside her for so long, the guilt, the feeling of responsibility, the belief that she was the reason for Matt's current problems.

Mark looked at the hopeless and hurt look on Charlie's face. He wanted to shake her, slap her, scream at her. Anything to make her see just how ridiculous and absurd it all sounded. There was no way that anyone could pin a person's health problem on someone else. Mark couldn't say that his many opponents in the ring had caused his hurt knees, or hip problems. He couldn't blame Batista for his injured bicep. Things just happened with the human body, without it being someone's fault.

"Charlie, he is a full grown man in his thirties. Life is stress and if he can't handle his own body by now that is no one's fault but his own. You cannot be blamed for something that was his doing."

"He saw you here and he freaked out. He couldn't believe that I was with you. He didn't want to believe that we were over."

"And that is not your fault. We were simply having dinner. There's no crime in that Charlie. You deserve friends, and to have some fun."

"Not when my husband is lying in a hospital bed fighting for his life!" Charlie yelled out heatedly, suddenly taking great interest in the lines of her hands and on her couch.

Mark sat stunned by Charlie's words. She had never before called Matt her husband. It was always her 'ex' or some derogatory remark to help her release stress from their latest fight. He was ready to hug her and cuddle her close. Mark didn't' know much about being sensitive or helping with emotional support; but he did know women loved to feel safe. And Mark was very good at making women feel safe. He was protective by nature, and some of it always seemed to filter into his arms when he had a woman wrapped in them. He was seconds away from doing that for Charlie until she had yelled at him. Now he simply sat silent, unsure of what to do or say.

Part of him wanted to stand up and excuse himself to leave Charlie to her own thoughts. She was hurting and upset and Mark seemed to be doing nothing to help. But one look into Charlie's teary eyes and he knew that he wouldn't be able to leave. Not until he knew Charlie was feeling a bit better about Matt's health problems.

"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known, and anyone who says otherwise is a fool," Mark finally said after a lengthy silence, making no move to try and get closer to Charlie. His body was screaming out to hold the petite five foot five inch woman who was burying her head in her hands blaming the world's problems on herself. But he just couldn't seem to. Not when she seemed so invested in Matt's recovery and screaming out that he was her husband. Not when Mark knew he wasn't the man that was on Charlie's mind.

"I just feel so guilty—about everything. I feel like leaving him was the right thing to do, but then I feel like I abandoned him. I just left him on his own when he needed someone. I said I would be that someone forever when I married him. How could I just leave?"

Mark shrugged and looked around the room to avoid Charlie's eyes. "Marriages fail, they fall apart, it happens all the time. My marriage is falling apart, and it isn't really anyone's fault. It is what it is."

Charlie turned fully towards Mark, adjusting herself on the couch. "Mark, did you try to make things work with Sarah?"

Mark turned in surprise to meet Charlie's eyes. He was no stranger to Charlie's blunt questions, but talking about his failing marriage was not what he had in mind when he had stopped by. He had simply wanted to see how Charlie was doing, check in on her, and see if she would possibly be open to going 

out once again. Reliving the painful memories of why he and Sarah had separated was nothing he could have thought of or imagined.

"I—uh—we, well, we did all we could. At first we thought it was simply me being gone too much. We weren't able to keep a relationship going with the two days a week that I was home. So I took her travelling with me more often. It only made us fight all the more. So then we started trying marriage counseling when I was home. We tried anything and everything. Three different shrinks, her childhood priest, anything that anyone recommended. It didn't matter. Almost ten years of marriage, and it just fell apart."

"When did you know that it was over?"

Mark heaved a heavy sigh as he sat quietly thinking over his relationship with Sarah. "I'd say about six, seven months. We just knew no matter what we weren't working anymore. She wanted more from me personally; I wanted one last great run with the company. She couldn't take it anymore, she didn't want to support me in it, didn't want me to go back. Once we disagreed on that, it all went downhill from there."

"And you're over the whole relationship already?" Charlie questioned a bit skeptically. She knew that over a year later and she still wasn't over Matt. She still thought about him daily, wished that he would change, hoped that she could someday have him be the man that he always promised her he would be. She found it hard to believe that a man as passionate and fierce as Mark would simply walk away from a relationship so easily.

Mark shook his head and gave a sad smile. "No, not at all. I just know that I want to be open to whatever it is that may be out there. I can't get anymore hurt than I am now, and have been up till this point. And I can't very well go doing that if I'm sitting in the dark moping over what I lost. I may very well never find someone to love again, and that's alright with me. I had a few good runs with great women. Sarah is an amazing woman, and I'm lucky that I can be civil with her and still talk to her. We may never be great friends but we can raise our daughter together without any problems. And right now that's all that I can ask for."

Charlie gave a smile and stared off dreamily. Mark had what she had been yearning for since she had walked out on Matt. "I wish I could have that with Matt. The only way that we can stay civil with each other is if I don't see, or talk to anyone other than him or his family ever again."

"Can I ask you something? I know that I might be completely out of line and have no right to even think any of these things, but it's just something that's been bothering me and weighing on my mind."

Charlie studied Mark's face for a minute and tried her best for a reassuring smile. His tone and the sheer intensity in his eyes was starting to make her nervous under his unfaltering gaze. But there was something so safe about Mark that she would grant him anything, and answer any question that he may have for her.

"Ask away and I'll answer the best that I can," she told him keeping the smile plastered on her face.

"You say so many things about Matt that make him sound like he was a terrible husband to you. And after meeting him I'm sure that he was. I know that you worked non-stop trying to support your family while he sat around and did nothing. I know that he's still doing nothing besides finding a new girl to milk for all she's worth. I just want to know, if you have so many problems with him then why do you keep trying with him? Why do you keep going back?"

Charlie looked down at her hands as she nervously began ringing them, trying her best to keep her tears from falling. She knew how everyone felt about Matt and about her continuing relationship with him. She knew somewhere deep down that it would probably only get worse with time. She knew that he was mean spirited and controlling; but at the same time she couldn't help seeing the charming man that she had fallen in love with so many years ago.

Charlie was older now, less naïve and very jaded by her tumultuous relationship with Matt. She wasn't as stupid as people seemed to want to believe that she was. She was not blind to the fact that Matt was not the best of men, that he was lazy and rude. She was acutely aware that he had done nothing but take years off her life with his nasty attitude and nearly abusive ways. But he had given her the best of gifts; her two kids. And she just couldn't seem to let that go. She couldn't let go of the love that had created her children; even if it had been long since dead.

She shrugged her shoulders and sniffled. "I don't know honestly. At first I was just afraid to be alone. I couldn't picture coming home to an empty place. And once I got past that, it was the kids. They needed to have their father and their mother together. By the time Jasmine was a year old, I knew that it needed to change. All we did was scream at each other and it wasn't any good for the kids. But now—now he's just been such a big part of my life for so long that I don't know how to completely let him go and cut him out of my life."

Mark moved closer to Charlie and wrapped a large arm around her, hugging her to his side with ease. Charlie leaned in and inhaled Mark's scent. She had only been this close when he gave her a hug hello or goodbye. She had never been this close to him for such an extended amount of time. And she was finding that it was making her head spin. He smelt like a hint of cologne and leather. A mix that she never knew would be such a large turn on for her.

"Charlie, I know that it's hard for you. I'm going through it for the second time and it still sucks. But sometimes things are better left alone. I think he's just one of those things."

Charlie nodded against Mark's side but stayed silent. She didn't want to ruin the moment that they were currently sharing together.

Mark heard Charlie stifle a yawn and rubbed his arm down her back. He knew that he should get up and leave the house. He needed to go back on the road, his flight was in the afternoon, and he still had to pack. But something kept him happily sitting on the couch. He wasn't sure if he could call this something romantic happening between him and Charlie. All he knew was that it felt nice. It had been a long while since he had a woman sitting in his arms without hope or expectation; where all she wanted was to be held, in silence, enjoying the peace. And that was what Charlie was doing at the moment. This Mark could do, and do well, and he didn't want it to end.

"I should go," he said hesitantly, making no move to stand.

"No, no stay a bit longer. I like the company."

Mark smiled to himself and continued rubbing Charlie's back in a hypnotic rhythm. "I would Charlie, I really would. I just don't think it's the best idea. You're about to fall asleep."

"Well you're just so big; I could use you as a body pillow."

Mark laughed and looked down to see Charlie giving a very tired smile. "I'm sure that you could, I just don't know how comfortable I'd be."

"I'd manage," Charlie countered in between yawns.

"You want me to stay even after I've been so nosy and pried into just about every bit of your life?"

Charlie shrugged and yawned once more. "I don't mind it Mark. You're easy to talk to. It's almost like having my sister around. Not that I think of you as my sister or girlfriend," she continued on quickly, feeling Mark's large muscles tense beneath her. "You and my sister simply think a lot alike. You have the same views on Matt; don't push me too much about why I do what I do. You just ask out of deep, true concern, and then tell me what a low life the man is," she said with a slight laugh. "I'm perfectly fine sharing with you."

"Charlie before I leave I have one more question for you."

"Shoot."

"I have to go back on the road tomorrow, I'll be back in about four or five days, and I have a few days off. I want to try dinner again. Last time got interrupted and I want to do it again. Hopefully without any interruptions."

Charlie sat quiet for a moment and looked up at Mark, hesitation written in every one of her features. "I don't know if that's the best idea Mark."

Mark looked down confused. They had such a nice conversation together, what would be wrong about dinner? "I don't understand, why not?"

Charlie sighed and sat up a bit, trying to create space between her and Mark. "Matt asked me if I would give him another chance. He wants to move in here and see if we can make another go of things."

"And you want to do this?"

"No, not really, I just feel like I owe him. He's sick right now, and I feel like it's because of me. I need to do something."

"Why? Why do you need to do anything for him?"

Charlie gave an exasperated sigh and stood up. "Mark, the man is my husband, I have two kids with him!"

"And he hasn't ever done a thing for you!" Mark said heatedly standing up as well.

"He's still my husband," Charlie said quietly.

"Really Charlie, by what standard? How exactly is he your husband? Did he work non-stop to make a better life for you? Did he do the best job that he could have raising your kids, or helping to take care of the house? Did he honestly love you or cherish you? What did he do besides bring you down and try to take you away from everything you know?"

"Mark, I know you can't understand, and I'm not asking you to. He's still my husband and the least I can do is think it all through."

Mark rubbed a hand down his face trying to keep calm. To him, the woman was speaking nonsense. Nothing that was coming out of her mouth made sense. She owed nothing to her husband, the way he thought about it, Matt owed this life and the next to Charlie.

"Have you decided what you're going to do?" He watched as Charlie shook her head and let out a long breath. "Ok well, there's nothing wrong with some friends doing a dinner. I don't have to date you to like you Charlie. I still want to do dinner."

"Really?"

Mark looked down at Charlie's surprised face and couldn't help the gentle smile that crossed his face. "Of course little darling, I like having you around. Nothing is going to change that. We can do dinner as friends. Will you at least agree to that?"

Charlie nodded with a large smile on her face. "Of course I would, I would love that."

"Good then it's settled. And anyone who has a problem with it can come and talk to me. I really do need to go now, I have to pack for tomorrow. But I'll call you soon alright?"

"You better. I know I haven't talked to you lately but that'll change. Of course as long as you call."

"I'll call little darlin' you can count on it," Mark said adjusting the bandana on his head and heading for the door.

Charlie laughed and shook her head. "You are such a cross between cowboy and biker."

"Do you find it amusing?"

"No, I find it sexy."

Mark froze in the doorway and turned to look at Charlie. Everything in his gut told him to make a move on this woman. She was attracted to him, he knew it. She broke out in goosebumps every time that he touched her. He could have what he wanted from her physically, but Mark was past sheer physicality. He saw something in Charlie that he wanted, something that was far different than anything her body could provide.

"Ya' know what Charlie, I think I might have misled you before. I do want to do dinner with you, but not as friends, at least not forever. I want to see if I can have something more with you. I don't care how long it takes. I'm a patient man when I need to be. I just need you to do me one thing." Mark took his thumb, carefully stroking her cheek and admiring the way her lips began to part slightly from the simply contact. "Don't make any decisions on this, not 'till I get back to see you anyway."

Charlie nodded her head almost absent-mindedly. She would agree to anything if Mark would keep touching her in the soft, caressing way that he was.

"Good, that's good." Mark lowered himself capturing Charlie's lips with his own. He fought his manly urges to kiss her hard and fierce. That wasn't what she needed. She needed to be romanced, and if Mark couldn't romance with words he knew how to do it with his body.

Slowly and deeply Mark took his time kissing Charlie, holding her tighter when she started to lean against him. He tasted only the tip of her tongue with his own. He was in no rush with her. He could leave her wondering and wanting more, it's what he wanted to do.

Pulling back when the need to breath finally arose, Mark leaned his forehead against hers. "You just think on that little darlin' because I guarantee that no man has kissed you like that before. Don't make any decisions till I come back," he said quietly nipping quickly at her lips before heading down the driveway to her car.

It would be a long week, but Mark could wait, he was a patient man. He might drive his friends crazy with non-stop talk of Charlie, but at least he was waiting. Charlie couldn't be rushed. She had a lot to work through, and Mark had nothing but time.

* * *

**OK so I know it's been forever since I have updated and I am extremely sorry. I went through some health issues which required surgery and with surgery comes pain and pain killers. And I was not in the right state of mind to write so please forgive me.**

**I am feeling a lot better and getting back up and on my feet so expect the updates fairly regularly. **

**And I just want to say that I am so extremely excited, happy, and touched that this story is garnering such attention. I am so pleased to hear that the characters feel real because they are indeed based on people very close to me whom I love very deeply, and have been through terribly rough times. Be warned Matt only gets worse from here on out... Enjoy and please REVIEW!! **


	5. Chapter 5

Charlie sat staring at her phone. The kids had been asleep for an hour now, and she had all night to sit and talk to Mark. He had called her while she was at work and she had promised to call back. Her rapid heartbeat and the uncertain thoughts racing through her head were making it slightly impossible.

She had reluctantly agreed to try and make things work with Matt. She had agreed to figure out a good time for him to move back in half heartedly. Her heart was not in this newly revived love that Matt was so intent on creating. Her spirit was broken in half by the conflicting emotions that kept running through her. Matt had been on her for days now to pick a moving day, but she couldn't do it. All she thought of when she saw Matt was Mark. When Matt tried to hold her all she felt was Mark's body. She wanted Mark's long, muscular frame to wrap her up. She wanted to smell Mark's unique scent, not Matt's.

As if wanting Mark weren't bad enough, Jacob had now taken a liking to wrestling. He had begged and pleaded with her until she sat and watched with him. And her heart raced, and ached all at once every time that she watched Mark's lithe body work the ring and take control over opponent after opponent.

Finally Charlie worked up her nerve and quickly found Mark's number pushing send before she could talk herself out of making the call.

It was only when she heard Mark's gruff voice over the phone that she finally allowed herself to breathe. "How you doing big man?" she asked playfully trying to shake her nerves.

"Better now that you called back. I didn't think that I would be hearing back from you at all tonight."

"I had to work late, and then getting the kids to bed was a nightmare. All they wanted to do was stall and spend more time with me."

Mark laughed as he sat down on the bench in the locker room he was currently occupying. "Beats being on the road where you can't see them at all. I just called because I'm going to be home tomorrow."

Charlie's face broke out in an instant smile. She had been waiting for days to hear that Mark was coming back into town. He had extended his road stay for a bit more of a push. She didn't understand the workings backstage at the WWE, and she had no interest to. All she knew was that they were building Mark up for something big and it required more time on the road.

"That's good news. I'm sure that your kids were really happy to hear that."

"What about you little darlin', are you happy that I'm coming home?"

Charlie was happy that they were on the phone and not talking in person. The blush that beginning settling on her cheeks was embarrassing enough without having Mark see it. She had never been talked to the way that Mark talked to her, or been so subtly romanced the way she was now. Mark was doing everything possible to let her know how he felt without pressuring her. He would tell her that she was on his mind, or that he wanted to be home to see her smile instead of only seeing her laugh. She felt like a true woman, something that had never happened before.

"Yes big man, I'm happy that you're going to be home."

"So, when are we doing dinner?"

Charlie sat silent and thought over her schedule for the week and her plans for her kids. There wasn't much free time for anything outside of work and raising her children.

"If you want to do a late dinner Friday night that would be great. You could spend the day with your kids and then we can spend some time together afterwards."

"I had a better idea in mind," Mark said softly looking around the locker room. There were a few things that you learned early on never to do in a locker room, and on the top of the list was appear soft and romantic in front to the other guys. All men did it, but not in front of other men; not unless you wanted to get hounded about it for the next week.

"Sidda has been bothering me for a play date with Jake. We can take them out for the day, Sidda can sleep over and when they're in bed we can have a candlelit dinner. I'll cook."

"Mark, you said dinner as friends, not a romantic evening at home," Charlie said quickly paying no attention to the deep desire to say yes to Mark.

"I also said not to make any decisions on Matt until I got back. What's wrong with an evening at home? I can cook up some food, we'll have a nice conversation. It'll be totally innocent."

"I told Matt that we would give it another try. I don't know why I did, he was badgering me and I said yes just to get him to stop talking."

Mark sighed and stayed quiet as he swallowed his anger. He was sure that he had gotten through to Charlie the last time that he had spoken to her. She had talked to him at least once a day for the last week while he was on the road. They were finally getting somewhere. Now he had to hear about Matt again.

"Little Darling, do you want to do this?" When Mark heard a soft groan come through the receiver he let a smile break over his face and continued on. "Did he move on in yet?"

"No."

"Did you tell him when to come back home?"

"No, I've been stalling."

"Then I'll see you on Friday."

"Mark, it's still not a good idea. I made a promise to Matt—"

"And you made a promise to me too. Now come on little darling, which one would you rather fulfill? You can fight with Matt for God knows how long about when to move in or, you can let me come over on Friday and we'll have a real good time. I'll even give you a kiss if you are real good all day."

Charlie laughed and shook her head. Coming from any other man, that comment would have been sure to set her temper off in an instant. She was no child and she hated when people spoke to her as such. But coming from Mark she loved it. She knew that he was joking and it was how he flirted and she loved it. Instead of making her feel annoyed, it made her feel safe and wanted. Besides, the thought of Mark kissing her again made Charlie tingle from the inside out. The last kiss he had given her had stayed on her lips for days before she forgot the feeling. And the prospect of being reminded excited her.

"Alright big man, you get your way this time. I'll see you Friday."

"Seventy two hours, I'll be counting down little darling. I have to go; I have a match to go do."

Charlie licked her lips at the thought of Mark in his ring gear wrestling around. Something about the sheer macho physicality of his profession brought a bit of heat to Charlie whenever she thought of it.

"Dominant, big man."

"I always do," Mark said laughingly before saying goodbye and ending the phone call.

Dropping his cell phone into his gym bag, Mark looked up to find a pair of intense curious eyes staring at him.

"What's on your mind Glen?" When he saw the shrug of his friends massive shoulders he rolled his eyes and gave a disbelieving look. Mark had known Glen for more than a decade. They had worked closely together for too long to not know when Glen had something on his mind. "Don't feed me the crap Glen. I know you as well as anyone and I know you are thinking something. Now spit it out."

Mark knew that he was in for a long talk when Glen sighed and lowered his massive frame next to Mark. The man rivaled Mark in size, temperament, and unbridled passion and sheer determination to be the best at everything that they tried their hand at. It was because they were so alike that Mark knew the inner workings of Glenn so well. But it was the way that Glenn wore his heart on his sleeve and in his eyes that usually gave him away.

"What are you doing man?" Glen asked after a short silence. "You're on the phone with some woman seven months after breaking it off with Sarah. Are you ready for it?"

Mark gave a chuckle and smiled. "You worry too much Glen. There's nothing major going on between me and Charlie."

Glen studied Mark's face as he thought over Mark's words. As much as the two large men were alike they were also extremely different. Glen took the time to figure things out. When a major change in his life occurred he kept to himself until he knew for certain how he felt about it. He was planned and certain with every move he made in life. Mark was the opposite. He took the change and ran with it in the other direction. There was no major thinking involved in his decisions, only gut feelings. And as much as Glen believed in gut instincts, Mark's seemed to love to get him into trouble more than anything else.

And Glen worried that Mark was starting to head into trouble once more. He couldn't believe that nothing serious was going on with Mark and Charlie. Although he had only heard small portions of the conversation, he had seen Mark's face change dramatically from moment to moment. There was a possessive quality in his eyes that spoke volumes more than Mark's casual words ever could.

"I have a hard time believing that. This is the same woman that you talked about non-stop for the last week right? The same woman that you said wasn't picking up your phone calls or answering your messages?" When Mark nodded Glen continued. "And you are both in the middle of these messy separations, trying to make a good living and raise a family."

"That's pretty much it."

"Mark, from what you've told me about her, are you sure that you want to be in the middle of this?"

Mark stood and stared down at Glen. Over ten years in the business together had made the two men practically family. The problem with that was that like family always has a tendency to do; Glen was dangerously close to overstepping the delicate balance between being concerned and meddling.

"Glen, you know that I value your opinion. You're smarter than most of the guys in the locker room. But that doesn't mean that you know anything about this woman, or about the relationship that I have with her. Now I told you, there isn't anything serious between us and I'm fine. Can't we just leave it at that?"

Glen nodded his head, conceding to Mark's denial of true feelings for Charlie. Nothing would be accomplished by butting heads with Mark. That was easy enough to do on any given day. But on a sensitive subject, like his love life, Glen knew to walk carefully or be ready for a fight.

"Ok Mark, I give, but can I just ask you one thing? Who are you trying to convince about this so called 'casual' relationship? Me or you?" And with that Glen stood up, clapping a hand over Mark's shoulder and giving him a warm smile before walking out of the locker room.

Mark knew that he was extremely defensive about what he did with Charlie. But he didn't need anyone else questioning it. He felt for the woman. He liked her company, liked her laugh, and loved to see her smile. Beyond that he didn't question much. He could whine about what he didn't have with Charlie because of the circumstances with her ex Matt; or he could do his best to show her what a woman was truly treated like and hope that it swayed her his way. He didn't have the luxury to think about all the bad things that could stem from his feelings for her. If he took the time to over analyze he would walk away; and he was certain that, that was something he did not want to do. In fact it was the one thing that he was sure of. He wanted Charlie in his life, no matter what.

Mark hugged his daughter tight as she came bounding down the front steps and leaping into his arms. It still amazed him that at only seven years old Sida was able to recognize the sound of the engine from his pickup truck from the very edge of the driveway. It seemed that every time he came back home, by the time Mark stepped out of his truck Sida was already waiting at the stairs, ready to leap into his arms.

"How are we doing today princess?" Mark asked as he held Sida tight to him. He loved his business; he loved the travelling and the fans. But he hated being apart from his children so much. "Have you been behaving for mommy?"

"I had to, or I wouldn't be able to stay at Jake's. Can you help me get my bags?"

Mark looked up the steps to see Sarah watching intently, somewhere between adoration and concern. He could tell in a moment that there was something on her mind.

"Of course baby, go on in and get everything together. I'm gonna talk to mommy really quick."

"But Daddy, we're might be late to Jake's," Sida looked at her father doing her best to pout and get her way.

"Sida Lee, we will be fine, now do as I ask."

Mark smiled to himself as he watched her scurry up the stairs and run off to her room. For all her tantrums and emotional outbursts she had always done as he had asked of her. She was an amazing little girl, and he knew that most of the credit had to be handed to the blonde standing in the doorway waiting for him.

"I know I don't tell you enough Sarah, but you did an amazing job with her. She's a wonderful little girl, just like her momma."

Sarah turned and walked inside without a word, but not before Mark could miss the unshed tears sitting in her eyes. He knew that the separation was hard on the both of them, but he had yet to see Sarah cry. She had held herself together all these months without Mark ever seeing her fall apart.

"What's on your mind girl?" he asked stopping her in her tracks, placing a large hand on her slender shoulder.

"What's going on between you and Charlie?" she asked trying her best to hold onto the tears that were moments away from crumbling the protective wall she had spent months building around herself.

"Me and Charlie? Nothing is going on between me and Charlie Sarah. What is going on with you right now?" Mark asked searching Sarah's face for the real meaning behind her question.

They had both agreed that it was fine to start trying their hands at casual dating. In fact it had been Sarah that had sat Mark down on the very couch that they were heading to now and given him a long speech. She had sat there with a strong hard look on her face and told Mark that the marriage was falling apart. That it was all over for them. With all the time that Mark had spent on the road they had grown apart and there was no fixing it. Mark had sat there swallowing the hard lump in his throat and reluctantly agreed to not only separate, but try his best at moving on with his life.

Sarah sat on the couch staring at the family picture that seemed to stare back at her from across the room. She couldn't help but smile at it. Sida had just been born and she was falling wonderfully into the 

role of mother and step mother. Even know, after the boys knew about the separation between her and Mark they still came by to visit regularly. She loved the boys, and it was comforting to her to know that they loved her as well. But now it would all be a memory. The family that sat in that picture was no more and she didn't know how to handle it. She couldn't handle knowing that Mark was moving on so easily, so quickly.

"My sweet girl, talk to me. What is going on?" Mark asked tenderly as he watched the play of emotions on Sarah's face.

Sarah turned at the sound of her nickname passing through Mark's lips. She wanted to cry, yell, hit him, or throw something. Anything to let out the myriad of feelings that seemed to be racing through her. She hadn't heard him call her that since the last time they were in bed together. How was she supposed to react to that?

"Sida told me about the sleepover tonight. How you're planning a nice dinner between you and Charlie."

Mark sighed and hung his head. There was nothing to be ashamed about, he knew that. He was a grown man that had ended things with his wife. He had every right to see other women, he had her permission. But for Sarah to find out about things the way she had was something that Mark had never wanted.

"Sarah, it's nothing but a grown up dinner between friends. What do you want from me? You sat right there and told me to start dating. Now you're having problems when I have a nice time with a friend?"

"Is that all she is Mark? Is she just a friend?"

"That's what I just said to you Sarah. She just told me the other night that she's planning on getting back together with her husband. What am I supposed to be to her? I'm not some male booty call."

Sarah chuckled and shook her head. Nothing about this seemed right, and she knew it deep inside. "Mark, I know that you're trying to be nice and stretch the truth but don't. I saw Charlie yesterday to work out the details of the sleepover. The minute that I brought up your name two things happened, she smiled from ear to ear and the guilt set in on her face. Now just tell me Mark, what is going on?"

"Sweet girl, I wish I had an answer for you but I don't. I'm telling the truth. She wants nothing more than friendship while she tries to work things out with her family and I—I,"

"You want her," Sarah said in a shaky voice. She was trying her hardest to not seem weak at all. But the reality that she had lost her husband, the man that had been her life during some of the best and worst of her years; the man that she knew as the love of her life was beginning to sink in.

"Sarah I—"

"Am I that easy to get over Mark? How can you just go off and find someone else to start up with?"

Mark stood from the couch, shocked and annoyed. How could Sarah think that any of this was easy on him? Or that he simply went around trolling for new women? He had stayed up in his hotel room for weeks on end doing nothing but thinking over his life, sulking. Trying to figure out where it went wrong. He knew that so much of it was his fault, his selfish need to be at the top of the industry for as long as possible. And that only caused him to hurt more than Sarah was giving him credit for.

"You're crazy Sarah, you're acting absolutely nuts," Mark began, pacing angrily across the living room. "You sat there, right there and told me to move, to get over you and start a new life. You are the one that this has been easy on. You stay with Sida, you meet the men that you want to meet and that's all there is to it. How can you look at me and say that this has been easy on me?"

"Mark, lower your voice," Sarah hissed standing up and moving over to him. "You're practically screaming at me right now and Sida is going to hear you. The one thing that we agreed on was that this wasn't going to touch her. We would never let her know how bad things really were."

Mark took a deep breath and turned his back on Sarah. He was too confused to make sense of anything. He had had one too many conversations about his relationship with Charlie and it was unnerving him. Why did it suddenly concern everyone? Glen was worried he was making a mistake; Sarah was breaking apart believing that he had moved on so easily. Nothing was working the way that Mark had intended. He simply wanted to pick up his daughter and go hug and talk with Charlie. He wanted to see his daughter laugh with her best friend and revel in the joy of being home. Now all he wanted to do was roar and destroy whatever moved in his path.

"Don't you love me anymore Mark? Was it all so easy to leave it all behind?"

Mark turned at the sound of Sarah's shaky voice. He had only seen her cry a handful of times but he knew the sound when he heard it. She was finally getting ready to break down over it all. She was ready to stop being tough and start being wounded and tired from the fight.

"No sweet girl, it's nothing like that. I'm just trying to do what you asked from me is all. I still love you Sarah, I always will."

Mark sighed and breathed a deep breath of relief as he heard Sida bounding down the front steps. She had finished her packing, and now she was ready to be on her way. Mark studied Sarah's face and wiped the few stray tears from her eyes. Her soft breath fanned against his cheek causing Mark's heart to skip a beat. There was something about Sarah that he would never be over, but he was ready to try and get past.

"I should go, Sida's waiting for me. If she's like you, I shouldn't keep her waiting. I'll be back some time tomorrow to drop her back off."

In an impulse that Mark couldn't contain he leaned down and softly kissed Sarah's cheek before walking to the front door and helping his daughter into the truck. He had to leave quickly or there would be a conversation about still being in love between the two and over analyzing the split up. And Mark could not do either of those things. He was so in love with Sarah at one point that he couldn't handle seeing 

her hurt when he told her that he was no longer in love with her. He loved her for the woman that she was, for what she had done to him and for him. But he couldn't look at her and feel that spring in his step or that nervous anxiousness that came whenever you saw the person that stole your heart and stopped your breath. He loved Sarah to no end, but the separation was the one thing that he knew he had done right.

Collecting himself before stepping out of the truck Mark listened to his daughter ramble on about all the wonderful things she and Jacob would do during their sleepover. Her excitement was in overdrive and she bounced in her seat as she waited for her father to let her out of the car.

"Can we go in yet Daddy?" she whined from the back making Mark chuckle. He knew that she didn't understand why he was staying in the truck.

He could only hope that she could avoid the pain of a bad relationship, or a divorce. Most people wished for their kids to be smart, successful and have all the fine things that they never had. Of course Mark wished that for his daughter as well; but his life experiences had made it more important that his daughter find her happiness from herself and avoid all the other messy problems that he had to deal with.

"Yes baby, come on let's go in," Mark said getting out of the truck and helping his daughter down.

He smiled when the door swung open and Charlie stood there with Jasmine in her arms and an excited, bouncing Jacob standing beside her.

"Well you guys are finally here. Come on in, Jake's been waiting for this all day," Charlie said smiling and motioning for the pair to hurry up the steps.

Mark bent down placing a kiss on top of Charlie's head and smiling at Jasmine. "How are the two lovely ladies today?"

"We're good, just waiting around for our company. Jake has been looking forward to this since I told him about it. All it's been is the sleepover this and the sleepover that."

Mark gave a strained smile and moved inside. He wanted to be able to leave his problems with Sarah behind him, at least for the night. He was just finding it harder to do than usual.

"Is everything ok?" Charlie asked looking at Mark's face. She may not have known him long, but she knew when there was something wrong.

There was an advantage to being around Mark. His face held no emotions back when he was truly flustered. It hadn't taken Charlie long to recognize when there was something wrong with him.

"I just had an uncomfortable run in with Sarah before I came over here. She was very upset about us having dinner together tonight."

Charlie looked down uncomfortable and cleared her throat before turning away. "Matt was none too pleased with it either. He started cursing me out. It got pretty nasty."

Mark put his hand on Charlie's shoulder turning around, and for the first time noticing the bruise that covered nearly half her arm.

"Charlie did he-"

"No Mark, I would never let him touch me," Charlie answered quickly. She could see the visible quickening of Mark's pulse. She knew that he was protective of her, and she loved it. But what she didn't need was a confrontation between the two men. "He just held onto me while he was ranting. I bruise easily. I promise it was nothing."

"Charlie he put his hands on you. Never in all my years have I ever done that to a woman. My temper is bad and scary to some but no woman has ever felt physically threatened by me. Bruising you is not nothing, it's a big something," Mark said furious with her unaffected demeanor towards the whole situation.

"Look Mark, what do you want me to do? He's not dangerous, he never has been. I was upset and flipped out when it first happened but I'm over it now. We've been getting back together on hold and I'm not letting him near the kids. What else am I supposed to do?"

Mark looked at Charlie's battle stance and the flames that lit her eyes. She was quickly getting ready for a big fight, and that was not on the night's agenda. He glanced towards the kitchen and saw the bottle of wine sitting on the counter. He smiled and turned to Charlie.

"I don't want to fight, I just want you to be safe. Can you blame me for wanting to take care of you? Come her little darling, we aren't fighting tonight. Tonight we're going to make some dinner, pop open that bottle of wine and see where the night leads. We'll forget about everything else, deal?"

Charlie smiled and nodded. It didn't take much to set off and diffuse her temper. She hated being angry and was very willing to quickly forgive and forget about any of the bad things that had ever happened.

"I say that it's a deal. Well the kids are off in the den watching a movie and you haven't properly said hello to me yet," she said eyeing Mark's lips, making her meaning very clear.

Mark smiled and laughed. "Hmm well I guess you have been a good girl. And it has been a few days since we've seen each other."

Charlie smiled, hooking her finger and motioning for Mark to move closer to her which he happily did. She gave a small moan as Mark leaned down softly kissing her, taking his time with everything that he did. People could say all that they wanted but Mark would never care. Not as long as he could feel Charlie's lips and have her moan into his mouth in that dangerously sexy way she seemed to do. He loved feeling this woman pressed against him, he loved talking to her, loved being around her.

Sarah was finally pushed to the back of his mind as he let his tongue slowly slip into Charlie's mouth. Nothing else seemed to matter.

Charlie sighed, breaking away from the kiss as she heard the doorbell ring. She smiled as she stroked Mark's cheek, wiping the lip gloss off his lips. She pressed her palm to his mouth letting Mark give her a small kiss.

"Why don't you go start that dinner, I'll get the door," she said heavily as the desire to take Mark right on the couch slowly took over her body.

Mark simply nodded but stood in the same spot watching as Charlie moved to the door and swung it open carelessly.

Charlie stood stunned as her mouth worked up and down with no sound coming from it. "Uh—what are you doing here?"

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**I've been getting crazy amounts of people alerting the story but not so many reviews... and I just wanted to say thanks for the support no matter how you show it :) I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I am sincerely hoping that those of you that don't review but like the story will start to review and let me know what you think **


	6. Chapter 6

Charlie's heart raced as she stared through the doorway out onto her front yard. She couldn't bring herself to move her gaze. She couldn't exactly place why but she started feeling guilty, highly ashamed of having Mark over for dinner. It was a completely new feeling to her.

She had been nervous about how Matt would react, worried over what Sarah would think about Mark trying to move; but never guilty. She had never seen anything wrong with her and Mark getting together as friends. Now though, standing in the doorway with her lips still swollen and tingling from Mark's kiss, Charlie wanted to go up to her room and hide until everyone left.

"Can we talk?"

Charlie snapped her gaze back in front of her bringing her vague attention to the voice and nodded. "Sure," she threw a quick glance over her shoulder to see that Mark was out of sight and busy and walked out onto the porch closing the door behind her. "Have a seat," she said timidly, motioning to the small swing bench that was on the porch.

Taking a deep breath Charlie lowered herself onto the bench and tried to calm herself down. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was in trouble. She felt as if she were waiting for a scolding from one of her parents. It was as if she were sixteen and had just been suspended from school all over again. Swallowing the large lump that was in her throat she turned slowly and began the conversation that she was not looking forward to.

"So what uh- what brings you by tonight?"

Sarah studied her hands as she let her feet swing slowly beneath her. In truth, she had no idea what brought her by. In a moment of rash indecision she had hopped into her car and driven over here. But now face to face with Charlie; Sarah had no idea what to say to her.

What was there to really say? She could declare Mark was hers and tell Charlie to stay away. But that was a fantasy that would never happen. Even when she and Mark were together, he was never truly hers. Mark was his own man. He loved to belong to himself. He did what he wanted, when he wanted. That was why it took a very strong woman to even entertain the idea of being with Mark.

She could tell Charlie that she still wanted to work things through with Mark. She truly wanted that, but after her conversation with Mark, she wasn't sure if he would even want that. It was Sarah's determination to seem as if their split had meant nothing to her that drove Mark away in the first place.

So, with Sarah having nothing concrete to demand from Charlie, she did the next best thing to do.

"What is going on with you and Mark?" She asked not shifting her gaze from the slow motioning of her feet.

Charlie cleared her throat and stared out at the small glimpse of the sunset. She knew that Sarah was in an odd mood, but she had no idea that Sarah would come to Charlie in person.

"Sarah, I don't know what Mark said to you earlier, but there isn't anything going on with us. We're having a nice play date between the kids. I promise you that is all that is going on here."

Sarah shook her head and swallowed the scream that was building in her throat. "How can the two of you say that? How can you sit here and lie to me? Why won't someone tell me the truth?"

Charlie stood angry from Sarah's assumption that she was lying. Charlie was always an honest person, sometimes to a fault. It may be hard at times to actually get out the truth, but she didn't play games with people. When asked a question Charlie answered, whether it was the persons business or not.

"Sarah, we've been neighbors for a while now, and you are one of the few friends that I have out here. I don't want to do anything to upset you but you don't know what you are talking about. I have no rhyme or reason to explain my life to you, or my decision to spend a bit of time with Mark. What do you want to know exactly? I told Mark that all of this is only going to be friendship. I told my husband that I would try to work things out with him after his heart attack. And I am telling you that I am not trying to move in on Mark. It was Mark's idea to have a play date and stay in and eat some dinner. And that is all that is happening. You have every right to be upset over Mark doing whatever it is he's doing, but don't come over here and tell me what I 'm doing. I made things very clear to Mark, I'm trying with my husband, that's all that counts."

In a bold move that Sarah knew was over stepping boundaries and beginning to get extremely nasty she finally turned cold eyes to Charlie's angry fire filled eyes. "So then why hasn't he moved back in yet? And why are you hiding this thing with Mark?"

Charlie clenched her fists by her side and fought to keep her voice leveled. Sida and Mark were both inside and Charlie didn't want to start any major fights. Both of her guests held so much love and pride for Sarah. She wanted nothing to do with breaking that.

"Matt knows everything about Mark, they've met before. And he hasn't moved back in yet because we're still working through some big problems. Now if you don't mind, why are you really here?"

Sarah sighed and stood up. There was nothing else that she could do or say, Charlie had a rational reply for everything, and it was hard to be irrational when around that. "I love Mark, just as much as the day that I met him. He had so many other things that he wanted to do first, before he would completely give himself to me. I got tired of waiting. I can't keep waiting."

"Sounds like something that you need to talk to Mark about. I am no part of that. He's my friend. And I'm sorry that it may hurt your feelings, but I see nothing wrong with being friends with Mark."

Sarah nodded and moved down the steps. "Please, don't hurt him."

Charlie was saved the pain of trying to reply when she heard Mark's voice calling from the living room. Sarah waved and climbed into her car leaving Charlie alone on the porch as Mark opened the front door smiling and holding Jasmine.

"There you are little darling. I was standing in that kitchen chatting to myself for a good two minutes. I didn't notice until this one here came walking in asking for you. Why'd you go off and disappear on me?"

Charlie sat on the porch swing once more and smiled at the sight of Mark holding her daughter. "I just wanted to watch the sunset while the kids were nice and quiet," she answered holding out her arms for her daughter to sit on her lap. "What are you doing sweetie?"

Her daughter smiled up at her with big twinkling brown eyes and Charlie felt her smile widen. There was nothing better than having quiet moments with her kids that made her life just a bit better. Pushing the bouncing curls out of Jasmine's face Charlie placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead and stared out ahead once more.

"Are you sure that you're ok?" Mark asked sinking down next to the two girls. Slinging his arm around the back Mark started to swing gently causing Jasmine to squeal in delight. "I thought I heard a car back out of here a minute ago."

Charlie shrugged as if she knew nothing and tickled her daughter's belly. As much as she wanted to know every detail of the conversation between Sarah and Mark; she knew it would do no good. If Mark had said that he had feelings for Charlie what would come of that? Charlie still had her promise to Matt to fulfill. No matter how half hearted she felt about it. And for some indiscernible reason, if Mark had said nothing about his feelings for her, Charlie knew that she would be incredibly heartbroken. No, knowing about the conversation on served to make more trouble. And Charlie was up to her ears in trouble. She didn't need anything else to add to it.

Besides she was enjoying just how great Mark was with Jasmine. He currently had her thrown in the air, every so often lowering her enough to blow on her belly. He was calm and relaxed a far call from how he walked in. Charlie was in no hurry to change that.

"I think it was just someone who was a bit lost. They made a u-turn and sped on down the road."

Mark nodded and continued playing with Jasmine. He wasn't sure if it was actually true or not, but he didn't want anything to disturb the happiness that was settling inside of him. He had gone from wanting to be a raging beast to having the time of his life tossing around a two year old. And he didn't want it to end.

"It's getting dark. We should get inside, finish up dinner and check on Sida and Jake," Mark finally spoke as the last glimmer of sun sat on the horizon. Sida can dig up trouble faster than a dog going for his bone."

Charlie laughed and nodded in agreement. "Jake is exactly the same way. Let's go in and get some dinner in us. I'm getting hungry."

Mark laughed and looked Charlie up and down. "You're such a tiny thing; I bet you don't eat very much."

Charlie laughed and shook her head. "Honey, if you're in to the type of women that eat like rabbits, picking at some lettuce and get full, you have the wrong woman. I eat as much as any man out there. Anyone who knows me, and has seen me eat knows it's true."

"Well little darling, you'll just have to prove that true tonight. I'm going to go grill up some of that meat, when we're ready to eat, you keep up with me and you'll have earned my manly respect."

Charlie held out her hand for Mark to shake. "It's a deal," she said with a confident smile on her face.

Mark chuckled and lifted himself of the porch swing easily slinging Jasmine over his back for a piggy back ride.

The night was going better than Mark or Charlie had ever anticipated. They laughed as they watched Jasmine try extra hard to keep up with Jake and Sida. And now at nearly nine at night the threesome had played themselves straight into exhaustion. After playing Power Rangers, monsters, tag and a long game of hide and seek they were ready for sleep. And the adults were gladly welcoming the thought of quiet.

Charlie was near her breaking point with the way Mark had been running one large finger down her arm for the last twenty minutes as the kids wound down watching a few cartoons. She couldn't quite guess why she felt like Mark was walking sex, but that's what she felt. All the man had to do was look at her in just the right way and Charlie felt like she was melting into a giant puddle of want and desire. There was no placing just what it was about him, but it was more simply everything about Mark that made Charlie crazy about him.

She loved the way that they could just sit quiet without feeling uncomfortable or the need to make boring small talk. He understood just how rare and precious a true moment of stillness was and she loved that. He didn't need to know every little detail of her life or her relationship with Matt. He was interested because he cared for her and wanted to know that she was safe. And the simple way that he could make any problem seem surmountable just by holding her was the most impressive thing.

Charlie may have committed herself to trying again with her husband, but she was quickly falling in love with the big man that was sitting at her side holding her close making her feel like queen of the Nile.

"We should start moving. Those kids are practically falling asleep in front of the TV. And they won't be getting into pajamas all on their own," Charlie said regretting that she needed to move from Mark's side at all. If she had her way she would stay curled up to his side for the rest of the night, no question asked.

"Nah, the kids are old enough to get into bed themselves," Mark said lightly as he pulled Charlie just a bit closer to his side.

The night had been wonderful; but even still Charlie had seemed a bit distant. Whenever she thought he wasn't watching her, her eyes seemed to glaze over as her mind floated off into some distant thoughts or fantasy. Mark was not sure why, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know why.

"Jazzy can't, little munchkin still needs a lot of help with a lot of things. I'll put the kids to bed. You just wait here for me, I shouldn't be too long."

Mark shook his head and gave a grunt. "Sida Lee is my little girl, and since I'm here I'll put her to bed. It's no fair to make you do the work for my kid when I can certainly do it myself," he said as he pushed himself off the couch.

Charlie smiled and walked to the den to get the kids. "Alright guys, bedtime; put your pajamas on and I'll read you a story."

Charlie smiled as her son ran into her arms and hugged her. He was so like her. He loved to love, loved to be loved. "Mommy, I don't want you to read me a story. I want Mark to read to us. Can he, please?"

Charlie chuckled and turned toward Mark shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know little man, let's ask the big guy. What do you say big guy? You want to read the kids a bedtime story? Jake here doesn't want his mommy, he wants you."

Mark laughed and swung Jake up into one arm as he easily swung his daughter up on the other. "I say that sounds like a wonderful idea. Every boy needs to grow up into a man and let go of his momma some day."

Charlie laughed and picked up Jasmine and called up the steps after them. "He's a long way away from being a man Mark, just you remember that."

"I'm not going to teach him anything—bad," Mark yelled back as he took his daughter to get ready for bed.

Charlie laughed as a strange type of sadness settled into her chest. She had been missing so much since she had separated from Matt. So much that she wasn't even aware of. Her son was missing out on having a father because his father was too caught up with his own life to focus on the right things. She was missing out on the company of having a man in the house with her. Someone to help her settle the kids down at night, to talk to when she dimmed the lights all around the house. Some nights it was so quiet that Charlie had the urge to run through the house screaming just to get a bit of noise back. And her daughter was missing out on being daddy's little girl.

Mark seemed to want to fill all of those roles. He wanted to sit and talk to Charlie when things got quiet, he wanted to be an influence and role model for Jake. There was never a time when Jake asked to speak to Mark that Mark would turn him away. The kids were quickly becoming attached. And as much as it pleased Charlie that there was someone sweet, caring and stable in her children's lives; it worried Charlie all the more. How could she let her kids get attached only to have their hearts broken if things with Mark weren't to work out? How could she be a responsible mother if she was setting her family up for a large let down?

Mark walked down the stairs, after finishing tucking Sida and Jake into bed, to find Charlie sitting on the couch looking lost in thought. And by the small frown that was on her mouth, Mark didn't have to guess that whatever was on her mind was not something pleasant.

"Penny for your thoughts," Mark said nudging Charlie with his massive shoulder as he folded himself onto the couch next to her.

"The kids really like you. They love it when you come over," she answered distantly. There was no right way to say what was on her mind without hurting Mark's feelings.

"Well little darling, I'm glad that they do because I like them too. And if you haven't noticed I love coming over here as well. I know I'm not home much, but knowing that I can come home and see you guys, it really keeps me going."

"How much longer are you going to keep going?"

"Another year or so I guess. I don't really know. But I don't want to put a timeline on it. I've been doing this my whole life. I've given up marriages, time with my family; I've given it all just to do this. It's the biggest sacrifice there is, and I gladly do it knowing that I'm doing what I love and that for the rest of my children's lives they'll have the stability and security that I didn't have."

Charlie smiled up into Mark's face and laid her head on his chest. "How does such a family man like you deal with not being with your family?"

"I talk to them, a lot. Sida calls me just about every day and she lets me know everything that happens. Do you know how many nights I sit on the phone with her listening to stories of recess with Jake?"

Charlie laughed and breathed in deep the unique smell of Mark that always sent her senses into overdrive. "What will you do with your time off?"

Mark sighed and ran his hand through Charlie's thick curls. He didn't want to talk about the future, where he would be, where they might be. All he wanted to do was enjoy the time that he had with Charlie. Enjoy sitting with her in the quiet of the night, feeling just how soft and silky her hair was. He tore his thoughts away from how nice her hair and skin felt and cleared his throat.

"I guess I'll lie around the house, do a bit of business here and there, spend more time with my animals and my kids and take nice long bike rides without thinking about the time or anything else that I may have to do."

"Sounds so nice, I'd love to do that. I want to leave that store, watch my kids grow up, be able to take them to the park. Actually have some mom time with them," Charlie said wistfully, a gleam of hope in her eyes.

"We'll do all of that once I retire and hang up my boots. I mean, I won't be home all the time; I'm working on setting up other stuff but I won't be nearly as busy. And we'll take care of all that mom time that you want."

Charlie dropped her head and repositioned herself so that she was face to face with Mark. "What are we doing here?"

Mark's eyebrows shot up to his hairline at the sudden question posed to him. He had been asking himself the same question for days, but he could never figure out an answer. And as far as he knew, Charlie had no interest in defining the offbeat relationship that they had. Anytime their relationship was put into question she threw up her husband as an automatic defense. As if that put an end to all of the feelings between her and Mark.

"Well, little darling, as far as I know we're just sitting around talking and enjoying each other's company."

Charlie gave a frustrated grunt and threw her head back trying to keep herself calm. But everything that she had been worrying about was starting to come to the surface and she was becoming a bit overwhelmed.

"I mean it Mark. We never talk about what we have going on here, but I think I should know for sure. I mean, my kids are falling in love with you. They want to talk to you on the phone; they want to play with you when they know you're going to be home, what about them? What happens to them when we stop this little dance that we're doing here?"

Mark sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. Was there a full moon out? The world had been flipping on its axis' so much that Mark couldn't tell which way was up or down. Everyone wanted to talk about his relationship with Charlie. They wanted him to define what the two were to each other. He could barely define what he felt for Charlie; let alone what they were towards each other. He couldn't call it a romantic relationship, or a normal friendship. They were in a form of limbo that he couldn't understand.

"Charlie, I love those kids up there. Sida loves them too. I have no doubt in my mind that I'm going to keep being around no matter what. That is if you'll all have me."

Charlie gave a smile and caressed Mark's cheek. "Nothing would make us happier but I need more than that. Things with Matt have been so chaotic that I don't know what to say to Jake. One week he's seeing his father nearly every day then the next week I'm telling him that daddy isn't in the right state of mind to be around. He doesn't know whether his father is staying or going and it's taking its toll on him. He's asking questions constantly, clinging to anyone who will pay attention to him. I'm just grateful that Jasmine is still too young to really be hurt by all of this." Rubbing her hands over her face Charlie took in a deep breath in an effort to calm her nerves. Her intention was not to start any confrontation with Mark but what else could she do? She needed to figure out what was best for her children, and for herself.

"Mark, I have to start thinking about them. What are we doing here? Are you going back to Sarah? Are you thinking about going back to Sarah? I have to know what it is that you want."

Mark felt like letting out a succession of loud grunts. Somehow he wasn't communicating what he wanted to. Maybe no verbal words but simple sounds and gestures would help clear it all up. But he still couldn't place where all of Charlie's confusion and frustration was coming from.

"Charlie I don't know what's going here, and I don't know where all of this is coming from. I can't get you to talk about any sort of relationship with the two of us. Any conversation like this ends with 'Mark I can't, I'm with my husband'."

"Well Mark what do you want me to say? I was- will be- am—I am with my husband."

Mark gave a confident smirk and reached a long arm out pulling on Charlie's waist bring her up against his side. "Seem a bit flustered there little darling," he said letting his voice deepen as he ran a large thick finger up and down the base of her neck. "I don't see your husband anywhere around do you?" He waited until Charlie silently shook her head. "He's not the one bringing out those goosebumps on that gorgeous skin of yours is he? Now be a good girl and kiss me."

Charlie's eyes fluttered half open as she moved her face closer to Mark. She had never before been one to be told what to do. Anytime Matt had tried that bit more aggressive demanding strategy it only annoyed her. He only seemed like a bigger jerk than he was. But with Mark she felt completely different. She wanted to kiss him, wanted to make him happy. Anything to make sure that he would keep touching her the way that he was.

She smiled as she closed the distance and placed her lips on his. And the same reaction that Charlie was getting used to shot through her body. Mark always seemed to take her breath away and make her heart race all the faster. It was all she could to keep her feet from falling out from under her. But it was much more than that. It was the sweet way that Mark slowly and deeply explored her mouth, and the way the he nibbled on her lip ever so slightly before completely pulling away. Everything that he did was slow and calculated to make Charlie's desire all the bigger. And she loved it to no end.

"We can go upstairs to my bed. We have all night with each other, the kids never wake up during the night," Charlie said huskily finally breaking free of the kiss.

Mark smiled and kissed the side of Charlie's neck eliciting a quiet moan from her lips. "All in good time little darling. I don't share my women, don't mean that I don't take them away from the undeserving," he said softly laying a light kiss on her lips before walking up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Charlie asked once she was able to get her voice back.

"Off to sleep. Just because I'm not getting you naked don't mean I'm not gonna be in bed next to you," Mark answered with a laugh making short work of the stairs.

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**Thanks for the reviews last chapter. I'm so happy that you guys like the story. As usual hope you enjoyed this installment and if you loved it let me know it ;) I love reading those reviews from all of you.**


	7. Chapter 7

Charlie held tightly to her phone and forced her eyes shut. Living her life seemed almost not worth it today. The only hope that she had, was to bring herself back to the wonderful morning she had with Mark. Nothing had felt better to her than that simple morning. And being only three days earlier, she felt like millennia had passed in between.

Nothing was as happy as three days prior, and nothing could shake the sinking feeling that she had in her chest. Not even imagining Mark's smiling face. Or remembering just how delightfully deep and rough his voice was after hours of sleep. Forcing herself to remember how tightly he held onto her, or how happy Jake was to see Mark still there in the morning; nothing could fix what, in her heart, she knew was wrong.

At the sound of her phone ringing Charlie jumped a bit and quickly opened her phone. "Have you found anything out yet?" she asked immediately once she pressed her phone to her ear. She was too worried, too uptight to go through small talk and pleasantries that didn't matter. She would never get along with her sister-in-law the same again, and that was fine with her.

"I haven't heard anything from him, but it's been nearly two days. I can go to the precinct in the morning and report him missing."

Charlie sighed and rubbed her forehead. The beginnings of a migraine were forming from the stress of the day. "Susie, I don't want to report him missing. I want to find out where he went. In two days you haven't found out anything?"

"I didn't think anything was wrong at first Charlie," her sister-in-law bit out. "He goes out when he feels like it, he goes to see that girl that he has. I don't keep track of him all the time. And I thought that maybe he just came in late last night."

"He just had a heart attack you should be monitoring him!" Charlie yelled. She knew that fighting would do no good to find Matt. No one had heard from him lately, and she knew something was wrong. Yelling at his sister would not help find him; but it would help to relieve stress. She had too much emotion bottled up inside and it needed to find a way out. Right now her target was the only person that she had talked to all day.

"He's not a child Charlie, he wouldn't let me monitor him even if I hassled him all day long."

Charlie took a deep breath and tried to regain some of her composure. She knew that it was all the truth. Matt was stubborn and head strong and refused help. He refused to help himself or have anyone else help him. He would sooner throw his sister out of his small apartment than let her be his nursemaid.

"Alright, you called for a reason right? So what did you find out?"

She heard a long intake of breath and the hesitation to tell the truth. Whatever she felt in her heart was just about to be confirmed.

"He left his wallet and his phone behind. Whatever he's doing he doesn't want anyone to know who he is or to bother him."

"What is it that he's doing then?" Charlie asked impatiently. She didn't know how much more there was to take.

"I'm not sure, but I looked through his call log. He called up a low life that he met when he first moved here."

Charlie groaned and lowered her head, the headache was getting worse. "Susie, he said that he got rid of that number years ago. He promised me that he wasn't going to go back to stealing cars no matter what."

"I don't think it was because he wanted to start stealing cars again."

Charlie didn't know what to say, she didn't know what her husband was thinking. He had children that he should be hugging and kissing. He had a family that should mean more to him than anything else. Instead he had disappeared and she had no idea what to tell her kids.

"So what's the next move?" She asked against her own will. She was tired, emotionally and physically. Anytime that she envisioned things in her life getting better, Matt always brought her back down. No one knew how to ruin her life quite like Matt did.

"Well, I'm going to call this guy and get the information that I need from him."

"Guys like that don't talk easily Susie," Charlie said in a weary voice. She had no more strength left to argue, or to be angry. She was saddened by it all so much that it was all she could do to not break apart.

"He's my brother, the only family that I have left. I don't care if I have to see the guy in person and threaten to cut him up, I'm going to find out what I need to know."

Charlie smiled despite the circumstances and how horrible things seemed to be turning out. She knew that her sister-in-law wouldn't give up. Raised in the roughest parts of New York, as promised, Susie would do all she had to do to get the information she wanted.

"Just don't do anything that will get you arrested. You'll be no good to anyone that way," Charlie said half joking half serious.

"I won't get caught doing it," her sister said darkly before hanging up.

Charlie let her hand go limp and her phone fall to the floor. She had no idea what to do, or what to think. Part of her knew exactly what Matt had run off to do, but she refused to believe it. No matter how many problems that she had with Matt, her heart was still greatly invested in him. He meant a lot to their children. At a young age, the children still didn't know who their father really was and Charlie wasn't going to tell them. She had sugar coated every fight, every separation, every time that their 

father got too loud or too aggressive. But how could she sugar coat this? How could she protect her children from the hard truth of their father's lies and short comings?

"Mommy," Charlie turned her head toward the small voice and forced a smile on her face.

"Hey Boo Boo bear, what are you doing awake?" Lifting her son into her lap she stroked his head and leaned back on the couch slightly.

"I heard you yelling. Why were you yelling like that?"

Charlie sighed and cleared her throat. "Well, mommy was a little bit upset before that's all. But don't you worry, everything is fine," she lied keeping the smile on her face.

"When can I see daddy again?"

Charlie's heart fell through her stomach and a lump formed in her throat. In her heart she could almost certainly tell him that he might never see his father again. But she could never say that to him. At seven years old, her son would never be able to fully understand the complicated love/hate relationship his parents had. Or why his father behaved certain ways.

"I am not sure sweetie. Remember when mommy told you that he was sick?" She waited until she saw the small nod of his head to continue talking. "Well, he's still trying to get better. Daddy has a lot of things that are wrong with him right now and he has to get it all fixed before you see him again."

"You mean he has lots of things wrong with his heart?"

Charlie nodded and kissed the top of her sons head. "Yes baby, lots of things are wrong with his heart."

"Can I call him? Maybe if I talk to him he can feel betters. I want Daddy to feel betters. Don't you Mommy?"

Charlie smiled and hugged her son close to her. "Yes baby, I want Daddy to feel better. But he doesn't have his phone, so maybe later we can call him." Noticing the disappointed frown on Jake's face Charlie bounced Jake around until he broke into a smile and began to giggle. "Besides, you are supposed to be in bed fast asleep. I'm very sorry that I woke you up, but now it's time to get you back to bed or you'll be too tired to have fun at school tomorrow."

At the mention of school Jake's face lit up as he hopped off of Charlie's knee. "We're getting ducks tomorrow mommy. We're gonna hatch them and then raise them."

"I know, I saw the note from your teacher. I bet you can't wait."

Jake shook his head vigorously and began bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Sida told me that her mommy is gonna let her keep one and we can name it whatever we want."

"Sounds like fun. Better get back to sleep so that you can have all that fun tomorrow."

"Ok, night mommy."

Charlie laughed as her son flung his arms around her for a quick hug before running up the stairs.

"Goodnight, I love you Boo Boo Bear," she called after him.

Charlie sat on the couch staring at the T.V. without taking in what was on. It didn't matter to her at all. It was on simply for the noise. It was too quiet in the house and her thoughts were echoing too loudly in her head. She couldn't keep telling herself that her phone would ring with good news at any moment. She also couldn't hear herself keep thinking that somewhere Matt was doing the unthinkable. That somewhere unknown Matt was about to hurt himself and her family would be torn and hurting for the rest of their lives.

The only thing that she had found out in the last two hours was that Matt had gone to collect on an old debt from his friend. What that meant, she could only use her best guess and gut instinct; even if she had what her gut was telling her. She knew that Matt had gone to see his friend to get something and then grabbed a bus to some other part of Houston at least two hours away. And at half past midnight all she could do was sit on her couch and worry.

She wished that she could at least close her eyes for an hour or two. She had been working non-stop for the past two days bottling up whatever emotions came from Matt's sudden disappearance. She was beyond the point of exhaustion and yet, she still couldn't find the means to have a peaceful sleep. It did not matter that Charlie had to be back at work at nine which meant waking up at six to get everyone ready. Or that it had been three long, lonely nights since she had a good sleep.

She hadn't even realized that she had indeed nodded off until the sound of her cell phone ringing sent her sitting up on the couch as her heart raced. Quickly trying to clear the fog from her head, Charlie looked around grabbing her phone from under the coffee table and flipped it open without bothering to check the caller id.

"Hello," she answered breathlessly, hoping to hear Matt's voice.

"Charlie, I think I need some help."

Charlie sat up a bit straighter and listened to the sound of crying coming through the phone. "Matt? Matt where are you?"

"It doesn't matter, I just wanted to call you and tell you I'm ok now."

"Matt what do you mean now? What are you up to? Why did you just take off like that?"

"I don't know, I was just having so many bad thoughts. I was sitting in my room and walking around the apartment and I—I couldn't think straight. And then it all suddenly clicked to me, or at least I thought it did."

"What clicked?" Charlie looked down at her watch and groaned. "Matt it's nearly two a.m. tell me what is going on?"

"I came here after I decided that it would be better if I were dead. You don't want me anymore, you have this new man in your life, what did I need to be alive for? So I want to—"

"You called up that scumbag to get whatever you needed to go off and kill yourself?!" Charlie was reaching the short end of what little patience she had left. Matt had put her through too much as it was.

"Yes," he answered shortly in between his sobs. "I thought that it would be the best thing for everyone. You don't love me—"

"No," she said angrily cutting her off. "No, you didn't do this for anyone's best interest. You did this because you wanted me to suffer. You want to blame me for everything that is going wrong in your life."

"No that isn't it; I didn't want you to suffer. I just kept thinking that I don't want to be alive anymore. I don't see the kids that often, I don't have you anymore. There was no reason for me to live. I hopped on a bus and I was so calm about everything. I knew that I was finally doing something that I knew was the right thing. And so I just found this nice quiet spot overlooking the water and I was ready to pull the trigger. I was so ready to just get it all over with, but I just started thinking about Jake and Jasmine. I started seeing the kids and thinking about how much I love them, and I couldn't do it. I just couldn't pull that trigger. I couldn't do that to myself."

Charlie fought the urge to start screaming into the phone. This was why she could not deal with the man anymore. Whatever the reason was behind his thinking, it always revolved around him. There was no one else that mattered to him, no one else that he thought about. When she had to call and beg her family for diapers for their babies, he didn't care. When she had to double their socks up so their feet wouldn't freeze in the winter because they didn't have shoes, he didn't care. Matt was always more interested in playing video games or sleeping all day and lying in bed claiming to be sick, or too upset to move. When Charlie had worked eighty hour weeks while pregnant with her daughter Matt would only complain, or interrogate her as to her whereabouts for the day. There was no help, no comfort, no one other than Matt in his mind.

"I don't know what's wrong with me Charlie, but I admit it, I need help, real help."

Charlie let out a sigh and let her head fall back against the couch. "Matt, I've known you've needed help for a long time. I've been asking you for years to go see a therapist, a doctor, someone that can help you get over whatever is wrong with you. But I can't do this anymore. Everything that you've done, everything that you've said is all about you! I've been sitting here waiting for two days to hear from you. Jake is hurting because he can't see you, and I can't even tell him where you are. I'm tired Matt—of all this drama. There's always something wrong with you, always something to fight about. I can't take care of you anymore."

Charlie listened as the sobbing got louder and faster. She knew that she should say or do something to calm him down, he was in a bad state of mind, but she didn't have it in her. Matt had taken all that she had and then some out of her lately.

"I'm glad that you're ok, and I hope that you'll be going back home after you get off the phone but I can't say anything else to you Matt. I'm so angry, I don't know if I've ever been this angry before. You have kids, a family that you're supposed to be taking care of, but you've done nothing. You've done absolutely nothing but sit around and think about yourself. Do you know what this would have done to us? We could have been wondering what happened to you for years. You just don't get it Matt; no matter what happens between us, you still have those kids. You have kids that you need to start thinking about."

Charlie took in a deep breath and tuned out whatever plea Matt was making to her. She didn't care what he said. He could have said that he had a life altering revolution and that it would all be different, and for all she knew it would have been. But Charlie was past believing and hoping. She had no more faith, no more belief in love or fairytales. She especially had no interest in listening to anything that Matt had to say.

It wasn't until he started talking about seeing the kids that Charlie focused back in to the conversation.

"Matt, I know that the kids mean a lot to you, but you aren't seeing them," she pulled the phone away as Matt began to yell. "Say what you want but it's not going to happen. You aren't well, you haven't been for a long time. And I've tried to make visits with you regular but I can't let that happen. How do either of us know what's going to happen? For once Matt, just once, think about them. Think about what this can do to them if they ever found out."

"Charlie I want to see—" he stopped mid-sentence and sighed. "Alright, but for how long?"

"A month."

"Charlie, that's too long."

Charlie sighed and groaned. "Alright, you get therapy, real therapy for a couple of weeks and then we'll talk about it." She heard Matt calm down and looked back down at her watch. "Call me when you get back home and calm down. What you did was stupid Matt, really stupid."

"I know Charlie, and I'm going to change I promise."

"Just get back home Matt. Your sister is worried about you."

Charlie hung up the phone and rubbed the heel of her palms against her eyes. All the emotion that she had kept inside was threatening to spill out. She didn't know how to handle any of this. What do you do when you have an ex that calls you telling you how they were going to commit suicide? How do you respond when the father of you children tells you he had no reason to be alive?

The only thing that she could do was hope. Hope that it was simply depression or manic depression that he was suffering from. She wanted Matt to get help, so that her kids could have a real father. She wanted her son to have a real man to look up to, so that he would know how to be.

She sighed and grabbed her phone once more, quickly dialing the number that had began to bring comfort to her just knowing that she would hear his deep southern voice.

"Hey little darling, what are you doing up this late?" Mark answered happily. It had been two days since he had heard from her. Although it wasn't unusual with their busy schedules, it wasn't something that he liked.

"I've had a horrible two days and I needed a little cheering up. You sound happy, what are you up to?"

"Oh, I'm just having a little late night game of poker with some of the guys before we all split ways."

"Oops, did I interrupt?" Charlie asked worried. Mark was always talking about his friends and how important spending time with them was.

"Nah, I'll just sit out a few hands, not that it matters. Glen here is stealing all my money tonight anyway."

Charlie laughed and sniffed back her tears. She didn't want to let on that anything was wrong. Mark was having a fun night; she felt no need to have her drama spill over to him.

Mark moved away from the group and lowered his voice. "Is there something going on at home Charlie?"

Charlie cleared her throat and tried her best to sound like she wasn't ready to have a mental breakdown. "No I'm fine, everything is fine, I just wanted to hear your voice that's all."

"Hey, you know you can talk to me about anything. We're friends right?" Mark said understating their relationship. But as they had yet to define what they were friends was the only word that he could use.

"I just don't want to ruin your fun tonight. I'll talk to you when you get back home. When are you going to be back home?"

Mark took a minute and thought. "I'll be back for a few days by Thursday. I have a few shows and appearances around the area, so I'll be home. Why what's up?"

"I just thought it'd be nice to have Jake and Sida play, and we could catch up."

"That would be great little darlin'. I have to meet up with Sarah on Friday. We're having dinner, but Saturday is totally free. Would that be a good day?"

"I uh—I have to work that morning, but I can get off early," Charlie stammered through the sentence. Hearing that Mark was having dinner with Sarah had thrown her for a loop.

"Good then I'll see you then."

"Yupp, on Saturday," Charlie said hanging up.

She tried not to let the idea of Mark having a date with Sarah get to her. He had told her himself that it was over between he and Sarah. And she knew that no matter what his other flaws, Mark was honest and a man of his word. But for whatever reason it still bothered her. Sarah had come to her door almost pleading with her to leave Mark alone. Divorce was a nasty affair that required time and a lot of compromise. Whatever they needed to meet about it wouldn't be a real date. Mark would never go back on his word.

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**This was a bit of a tough chapter to write. I didn't want to over do it or down play it. So I sat around and tried and tried and tried to get out what I really wanted. Even though I'm not thoroughly satisfied with it I hope you guys enjoyed it. So please please PLEASE review and leave your thoughts... I really want to know what you think :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you so much for all the great reviews. Sorry for the long wait but hope you enjoy the update and please keep the reviews coming :)**

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Charlie smiled and leaned against the doorframe of her son's room quietly. True to his word Mark had shown up on Saturday night with a bouncing Sida by his side anxious to play with her best friend. They had been in bed for hours until Sida's cries cut through the delicate silence that had finally settled over the household. Now Charlie watched as Mark hugged his daughter to his side and stroked her hair; trying his best to calm her down.

It was a bittersweet moment to watch. And although she wasn't completely sure that she should be privy to such a private moment; Charlie couldn't seem to stop watching. Mark was the man that she had always prayed Matt would become one day. Mark hummed (horribly off key she noticed) softly to Sida until her breathing became slow and even.

Charlie turned from her spot as Mark laid Sida back down onto her sleeping bag and started out of the room. Heading down the steps as the smell of freshly washed laundry filled her nostrils, Charlie sighed. She was absolutely exhausted from the week's events. Yet here she stood doing laundry and trying desperately to catch up on the housework that had gone too long ignored. Her body couldn't seem to be able to find rest, no matter what time of the day it was there was more work for her to do. Until the days blended seamlessly one into the other.

She smiled at Mark as she headed back to the laundry room. He had been different tonight. Not that he hadn't been his same cavalier self. He threw flirtatious comments her way, smiled, joked and laughed in all the right spots. It all seemed the same on the surface but Charlie knew better. Mark had been different. He fell into deep silences whenever Charlie stopped the conversation between them. He had a worn out distressed look in his eyes that he could not seem to shake or cover up; no matter how hard he seemed to be trying.

"So little darling," Mark's deep voice cut through the silence. "are you going to tell me what tonight is really all about? The kids played, we chatted like friends; now what's the problem?"

"There isn't any problem Mark. I just thought it'd be nice to get together. We were missing your company around here."

Charlie gave him a half smile and shrugged satisfied with the answer she had given. It wasn't a total lie or the whole truth. She had missed Mark the minute that he walked out her door. But she missed him all that much more since everything with Matt had taken place. Mark's simple presence brought a calm and safe feeling that Charlie hadn't known since before she had met Matt.

"Is that the story that you're sticking with or are you going to tell me the truth?" Mark asked sternly as he stared hard at Charlie.

Charlie sighed and grabbed the laundry basket off the top of the washer and headed back towards the living room. "I couldn't help but watch you with Sida before. You were so sweet and gentle with her."

Mark smiled and tried to keep the blush that he felt from running up his neck into his face. "She had a nightmare. Sarah took her to a child psychologist about them. The nightmares started up around the 

time that we told Sida about us splitting up. Doctor thinks it's stress; Sida's way of blaming herself for all of this."

Charlie studied Mark's face and saw the stress of it all sitting there in his eyes. He looked tired and hurt and Charlie could relate. Trying to do best by the kids had somehow always hurt them. And the daunting feeling of failing as a parent always set in first. She was constantly questioning whether or not she was a good mother. She felt it so often that she could recognize it in anyone else in an instant no matter how hard they tried to hide it. And sitting in Mark's eyes this night was the same fear that Charlie carried with her every day.

"Mark you aren't a bad parent. Your daughter loves you so much," Charlie said trying to calm some of Mark's fears.

Mark gave a disbelieving grunt a lifted the laundry basket from Charlie's arms placing it on the dining room table. "She blames me as much as she loves me. How can I ask a seven year old to understand that Mommy and Daddy faked our happiness for years before deciding to split? I can't make her see that it isn't as simple or easy as Daddy moving back in and making everyone happy again."

"I know what you mean. I can't explain to Jake why he doesn't have his daddy around anymore. He wants to know why Matt is not around like he used to be. And I don't know what to tell him. So he just looks at me with those eyes; those pain filled eyes. It's times like that, that I hate myself as much as I hate Matt for the way things are."

"But that doesn't mean that you're a bad parent," Mark said softly trying to control his own emotions.

He had never been an overly emotional type of man. His father had never quite told him that "big boys don't cry" or that men held in their emotions. But even still Mark could not recall a single time hearing or seeing his father cry. He could hardly remember hugging or kissing his father, even as a young boy. And Mark's strong desire to live up to his father's rather large legacy or pride and strength, had never outwardly shown an abundance of emotion. But standing in front of Charlie, knowing that he felt the same that she did, knowing they hurt the same made his heart ache like it hadn't in a long time. Feeling ready to cry at any moment was not something that Mark was comfortable with.

However, hearing Sida cry at night, knowing all she wanted was for her to daddy to come; Mark felt nothing but guilty. He had never before denied Sida anything that was in her power to give. She knew respect, humility, and gratefulness for all that she had but she never wanted for a thing. And she had never seen her father as anything else than a hero in her mind's eye. She looked at her father with all the love and admiration that a daughter in love with her father would. But now Mark knew it was tainted. She was hurt that her daddy couldn't keep her happy, and couldn't keep her family together. And the thought that Mark hurt Sida while trying to do what was in his power to make her happy made him sick and pained him more than he would ever be able to express.

"And not going home doesn't mean that you are going to make Sida hate you," Charlie said reaching out to touch Marks hand.

"Right," Mark said clearing his throat doing his best to suppress the surge of emotions that wanted to take over him. "So anyway what's going on with you? When I talked to you the other night you sounded real upset. Did something happen that you don't want to tell me about?"

Charlie shook her head and looked down at her feet. "Not that I don't want to tell you, I just don't even want to think about it."

With a deep sigh she forced herself to look up at Mark and tell him all that had happened with Matt. Stunned Mark stood silent as he tried to figure out what to say. No matter how angry Charlie was with Matt she always became defensive whenever someone said something against Matt. And all that Mark could think was just how flawed and pathetic Matt was. He couldn't think of a single redeeming quality in Matt that would curb his anger against the man.

Mark had always believed that real men took care of their families, put others needs before their own. It was why Mark had missed his sons early years. They had only now learnt to not resent Mark for being away so much. And it killed Mark everyday he heard the sorrow or hurt in his family's voices. But he was building a career, making a life for his family that would make them comfortable without needing anything. He wanted to provide for his family at any cost. And he couldn't fathom how Matt could so easily leave his family to suffer for his own selfish needs.

"Charlie, I don't know what you want me to say to you. I don't want to upset you but that man—that man is—he's bad news," Mark finally finished trying his best to not anger Charlie any more than she already seemed. "What are you going to do?"

Charlie shrugged and sat on a chair playing with her hands. "I really don't know. I already told him that I wasn't going to let him see the kids until he started getting help. And we both agreed that he had to see someone regularly for a few weeks before he got a chance to see the kids again."

Mark nodded and cleared his throat trying to stall for time. His mind was racing with thoughts; thoughts he knew Charlie wouldn't want to hear but were desperate to come out.

"That's a good start. And you haven't figured anything else beyond that?" Mark's calm voice was a major contradiction to the turmoil that he was feeling inside. With the shake of Charlie's head Mark gave a slight nod of his head and sat down beside Charlie. "What is it that you want to do?"

Charlie looked into Mark's eyes and gave a small smile. "I want to do plenty of things. I'm so angry with him that I want to go down there and beat him until he's bleeding. That's the idea that seems most pleasing to me, just going plain out psycho on him," she chuckled along with Mark feeling the tension ease away somewhat. "As good as it would make me feel I don't see it as much of an option. It won't help anyone but me, and I need to think about the kids. And then when I think how much he's hurt Jake, I just want to scream at him. Jake is so confused and hurt behind everything and Matt doesn't bother to see that. All he sees is what is good or bad for him. I want to look at him and tell him to take a chariot ride straight to hell. That I never want to see his face again and that he isn't allowed around my babies."

"So why don't you?" Mark asked interrupting Charlie's rants.

Charlie took in a large breath and sighed deeply. "Because when I look at him I see all these great times that we had. I see how much I loved him when we had Jake and Jasmine. I see how much Jake loves his father and I can't deny him that. I don't want Jake to know what his father was like all these years. Not until he's old enough to understand. But it's even more than that. I want things back the way they used to be. I never cared that we fought, as long as we made up. I dealt with all of his problems because I loved him. I miss coming home and hearing everyone playing and laughing. I miss knowing that when I crawl into bed I'm going to feel him right there beside me. There was a comfort in knowing what I was going to come home to. And now I'm alone and I'm scared. I'm raising two kids by myself and I'm not sure that I can handle it. So I hold on to the last little piece of that life that I have left. I know that I should tell Matt to leave us alone for good but I can't bring myself to get rid of him completely. Does that sound crazy?"

Mark shook his head and answered truthfully, "No, little darling, no not at all."

And for the first time that Mark could remember he knew exactly how Charlie was feeling. He knew just how badly you could miss the familiarity of being with someone. How you can be completely grown up, but have your how life changed by one person. And the harsh hole that it leaves when that one person leaves you.

He knew the desperate feeling of wanting it back. He loved coming home to Sarah. He knew exactly how the house would smell, that it would be neat and clean. That he would see traces of his daughter playing throughout the day in the amount of toys that were piled in her play corner or the few toys that were lying about in the den. He knew that he would always be able to tell when his sons had come to stay. He would walk to the bathroom and smell Sarah's body wash, her shampoo, and her perfume. There were traces of her everywhere and he loved it. He had loved Sarah with every bone in his body and nothing made him feel better than when he came back home from the road. Nothing could take away the joy of knowing that he would go back home to his wife. To hug her and hold her. The knowledge that she would always be home when he got back was enough to make Mark leap for joy when his days off were coming up.

No, Mark didn't think that Charlie was crazy. He fully understood wanting your lifestyle back. And he knew that just like Charlie he was thinking through everything that he could do to get back that feeling of safety that had been ripped out from the both of them.

"I don't think you're crazy. I know exactly how you feel."

Charlie turned her eyes towards him and remembered for the first time that Mark had been slightly off since walking into her house. "Oh Mark, I'm so sorry. I just realized that I got to talking about me and I never even asked what happened with you."

"What do you mean what happened with me?" Mark asked confused and slightly surprised that Charlie was so quick to pick up on his slight change of mood.

"You haven't been yourself all night and you know it. Now you forced it out of me so I'm going to sit here and force it out of you. We're friends right?"

Mark swallowed hard and nodded. He hated being called a friend to Charlie. He just couldn't find a better term for what they were together. "Yea little darling, we're friends."

"Then talk to me Mark. Tell me what is going on," Charlie said softly placing her smaller hand on top of Mark's much larger one.

"I had dinner with Sarah last night and it didn't go exactly as it was planned. Or at least what I had planned it out to be."

"What happened instead?"

At Charlie's question Mark looked away. He didn't want to see the hurt or shock in her face when he told her all about what happened. "When I got there she started talking to me about everything that the two of us had been through. I thought we were going to settle things with the divorce. Try to keep the lawyer fees down to a minimum. But instead she starts telling me that she misses me more than she ever thought she would and that she wants me back. She asked me to come back home. That the separation lasted long enough and she wanted things back to the way they were."

"I know," Charlie said quietly.

At Charlie's admission of knowledge Mark turned his head surprised to find Charlie looking a bit uncomfortable and unsure of what to say or do.

"You know?" As Charlie shook her head Mark turned a questioning eye on her, holding her gaze until she met his. "How do you know?"

Charlie gave an uncomfortable glance around the room before choosing her words very carefully. There was still so much unsettled between Mark and Sarah that she didn't want to get in the middle of it.

"She came for a bit of visit a few days ago and told me that she still loved you. And of course in not so many words asked me to stay away from you."

"She—she what?"

"Mark," Charlie said quickly realizing his anger was about to get the better of him. "it wasn't anything to be upset about. She just came to let her feelings be known."

"And this just slipped your mind? You didn't think to tell me? What? Why didn't you come to me and tell me?"

"Well—you were cooking dinner and having such a nice time and Sida was having so much fun with Jake and I didn't want to ruin it. And I was afraid of causing tension between you and Sarah. You still have so much love and respect for her that I didn't want to do anything to ruin that."

"You mean she was the car that backed out of the driveway?" Mark asked quickly putting together the night's events from their date a few days earlier. "You told me it was a lost driver. You blatantly lied to me."

"Yes I did, but because I wanted to avoid this. You don't know who to be angrier at, me or Sarah. And truthfully you shouldn't be angry with either of us. Sarah was going with her emotions and she did nothing to really upset me or offend me. What was there to say about it?"

"How come I'm the last one to know about any of this? I thought that she was perfectly happy with the way things are. She always smiled and told me that things were great with her. Then at dinner she breaks down and tells me just how much she loves me and wants me back. How was I supposed to know?"

Charlie gave a small smile and looked up into Marks eyes. "Big man you aren't easy to deal with. You are bossy and demanding and want what you want. And it makes you unique and amazing. But on the same token you need a very strong woman to put up with you. You need someone who can stand toe to toe with you to put you in your place. Would you expect anything less from that type of woman than to try and hide her pain from you?"

"No, but she could have shared it. We could have talked it through. It could have been different," Mark said quietly.

"Mark, look at me," Charlie demanded waiting until his confused gaze met hers. "If you tell me right now that you love Sarah and you want to go back to her then that's great. I'll open up that front door and wish you luck. But if you can sit here and tell me that you want me, then it's something that you need to think over."

Mark stared at Charlie and couldn't help the deep flood of loving emotions that poured through him. Charlie was always so sweet and simply selfish. She hated complications and tried her best to make things either simple enough to stay or easy enough to walk away. And Mark knew had he been in her place he would have been steaming mad telling Charlie to choose that instant. Instead though she sat calmly holding his hand telling him that he needed to think it all over and be sure of what he wanted. Mark had known love before but he had never known that type of unconditional understanding and sweet surrender that Charlie was offering.

"How can she sit across from me and tell me that she is still madly in love with me? She kicked me out. She told me that we were done with all the trying. And as much as I agreed I wanted to keep going, I would have kept going until we were dead."

Charlie shrugged and kept her voice low. "Sometimes a woman needs to be number one. It's hard to be the runner up when you are so in love with them that you find it hard to breathe when they aren't around."

Mark looked on slightly stunned at Charlie's choice of words. Of course he had loved Sarah while they were together, he loved her still. But Charlie's description was a bit overwhelming for him. How was it 

possible to be that in love, to be that invested in the other person? He had hated leaving his family, but he never found it hard to breathe or hard to survive the time. Not the way that Charlie had been talking about. And part of Mark found that sad. He had always wanted to find the type of love that made him weak at the knees. And he had found it with Sarah, or at least he might have. If he had let himself be completely hers.

"I never thought that I was making her number two. I always made my family number one. I worked non-stop to give them everything that they wanted."

"But Sarah was never number one. She was never the one thing that you would put above all else. A woman needs to feel that every so often. We need to know that our love is returned the way we love."

"Did you love Matt like that? Like you said? Do you love him like that?"

"I used to, until I got smarter. And if we ever get another chance then I just might again. But right now I don't."

Mark stayed silent for awhile thinking over everything that had happened with Sarah. How she had cried and clung to him. Nearly begged him to stay with her for the night. She had told him that it was her own foolish pride that drove him away. She seemed positive that if she had showed how hard the separation was on her that they would still be together. And Mark couldn't particularly argue the point. He couldn't say what would happen if she had been honest with him, but he did know how he felt now at this moment.

"I don't think that I love Sarah like that," he said finally. "I love her because she's such a large part of my life, but I don't know if I love her like I should."

"Are you going to go back to her?"

Mark shrugged and stood. "I don't know, I haven't thought it over fully. But there is one thing that I know," he said pulling Charlie up beside him.

"With everything on my mind, I haven't given you any kisses or felt that precious skin of yours. Now be a good little girl and give me what I want."

Charlie laughed and slapped his arm lightly. "One day that won't work big man."

"You mean the day when I don't make you moan or break out in goosebumps," Mark said hungrily as he closed the small gap between them for a heated kiss.

He had no idea what would happen next, or if he should be touching Charlie the way he was. But he couldn't help it. He had decided long ago to stop fighting the attraction that they had to each other. He would simply go with the flow as they said. There would be no over thinking.

Charlie pulled back from the kiss using her small fingers to brush against the band of his jeans and boxers. "I know you don't want to share me, but if I don't have something from you, I'm going to go crazy with all this teasing."

Mark laughed and kissed her once more pressing her against his muscular body. Charlie was a very complex person that he could never seem to fully figure out. And it made him all that more drawn to her.

"Sorry little darling, I don't share my goods. But come on I promise I'll treat you real nice."

Charlie gave a seductive smile as she led him up the stairs. She couldn't over think anything that was happening. For the moment, Mark was hers, Sarah was out of the picture and things with Matt although strained were not in a state of suspension. It was the perfect night to have all that she wanted from Mark.

If only she could be sure that he wasn't going to go back to Sarah.


	9. Chapter 9

**This took forever to write because of the nature of the chapter. It was extremely difficult to write seeing as how I lived through something very near to this. Please be warned that it is a very heavy chapter to read. **

* * *

Charlie awoke in the middle of the night smiling as she laid eyes on Mark's broad muscular chest. She absolutely loved the way that he had touched every inch of skin till she tingled from head to toe. True to his word he would never share any women, but he did make Charlie feel special and beautiful. And to her that was more than she could have ever hoped to have.

Feeling a strange trembling feeling all over her body she buried her head further into Mark's chest hoping to find some comfort. The way she was cold and clammy told her that something was definitely wrong. So taking a deep breath Charlie curled up against Mark trying to focus only on the possessive way that his hand took hold of her waist not letting her go.

It wasn't until she woke up an hour later feeling the nausea sweep over her wave after wave did she realize what was wrong. Charlie had caught the stomach virus.

"Oh god," she whispered softly moving in slow deliberate movements to the closest bathroom.

Leaning over the toilet Charlie let her stomach reject everything she had put in her stomach over the last twelve hours. Groaning only when it was over and the weakness began to set in.

"Charlie?" Mark stepped into the bathroom cautiously wondering what had gotten Charlie out of bed at two in the morning. "Is everything ok?"

"No, sick, stomach virus," Charlie said quickly. She never could understand why, but sound had always made her more nauseous. The only way that she could explain it was simply by telling people that the sound came across to her as waves. And seeing the movement of the words made it worse.

She knew that it sounded absolutely insane. You couldn't see words of course, but it was the best way to explain just how sick she truly got.

"Is there anything that I can do to help?" Mark asked standing in the doorway. Not that he was afraid of getting sick, he was just awkward. Some people liked to be helped. Others liked to be left alone in quiet to get over it quicker.

He was pretty sure Charlie would always love getting taken care of and having someone around. Even still though he wouldn't push it. The only thing that he thought of was making sure Charlie stayed as comfortable as possible.

"Don't talk too much, and get Sida out of here. I don't want her getting sick because of me."

Mark shook his head and went to the sick wetting a washcloth and placing it on the back of Charlie's neck. "I'm not going to leave you alone. Look at what shape you're in right now. Haven't I told you my mama raised me up as a gentleman."

Charlie gave a weak smile and relished in the feeling of the cold washcloth on her skin. "You remind me of my sister," she said with fondness.

Mark gave a quiet laugh and shook his head. "That's one I've never heard of before."

"It's a good thing. She takes care of the family. She'll stay up all night with someone if they need her to and won't complain. Last time I got sick she took care of me until late in the night and then got up nice and early with the kids. Wouldn't even take a thank you without brushing it off. That's why you remind me of her. Never take no for an answer when someone is in trouble"

Mark smiled at the love in Charlie's weak voice. The analogy was still a bit odd for him to take in, but he understood what she meant. And he could tell that in Charlie's world there was no one that would care for her more than her sister.

"Do you think I can get you back to bed?" Mark asked as Charlie quieted down sitting on the bathtub with her eyes closed.

"I think so, but it's too far from the bathroom." Mark laughed and Charlie frowned. "I mean it. I get sick really badly. I'll be in and out of here every couple of minutes," she said seriously.

And as if in an attempt to validate her point, Charlie stood making her way over to the toilet and getting sick once again.

Mark let out a low whistle and fixed Charlie's hair keeping it out of her face. "Alright little darlin' I see your point. I'll put you downstairs in the den. The bathroom is right to the side there. No way you won't be able to make it."

Mark lifted Charlie carefully in his arms and made his way slowly down the stairs and placing her on the sofa gently covering her up with a light blanket.

"Now, I ain't leaving you alone as sick as you are, but the kids do need to get out of here. They don't need to be sick either."

"Yes, get Sida out of here, please. I'd really hate to see her sick because of me."

"I'm going to take Sida back to Sarah's and I'll be back real quick. But what are we going to do about Jake and Jasmine?"

Charlie groaned and kept her eyes shut tight. All of this talking was starting to affect her already queazy stomach. "I don't know. I only have Matt, there's no one else."

Mark immediately stiffened at the thought. They weren't his kids, he had no say, he knew that, logically anyway. His primal emotions however were thoroughly disagreeing. Matt was scum, slime, not worth the air he breathed. He was a low life sicko who should be alone and die alone a slow hard death. All thoughts that ran through Mark's mind. All ideas that made him smile with satisfaction. No where in his thoughts was there a section that said Matt was a good man; or that it was a good idea to have Matt near the kids.

Was Charlie out of her mind? Matt had called not more than four or five days ago telling her that he had a mental breakdown. Now here she was telling Mark to take those kids to Matt? No they may not be his kids but they certainly did not deserve the turmoil of seeing Matt.

"No," Mark said decisively.

Charlie was stunned by Mark's forcefull answer. "Excuse me?"

"Charlie, Matt is going through a hard time. Do you really trust him with the kids?"

"He's the only one here that I have to watch them."

"What about Sarah? She'd be happy to watch them."

Charlie gave a slight shake of her head. "Sarah is going through a lot. There is no way that I'm going to ask her to watch my kids while I'm sick. You'll show up with the kids saying 'watch them please while I go take care of Charlie'. No, no way."

"I'll be taking care of my friend. There's nothing wrong with it," Mark said in a hard tone. He would not be arguing the merits of his case to her. Matt was a horrible choice, he was crude and volatile. Mark would take them to Sarah's. There would be no arguments.

"I'll get some stuff together and take them over to Sarah's. I'll be back before you know it," Mark said in a commanding tone. Letting Charlie know that the alpha male mentality he had carried around was in full effect.

"Mark she'll be so hurt, hearing you were over here again."

Mark shook his head and stopped in the doorway to the den. "No, I'll make sure she won't know. All you need to worry about it getting some rest."

Charlie was worried, there was no way that she couldn't be. Not that she didn't trust Sarah. Sarah was a warm and wonderful woman. She would never mistreat Charlie's kids in any way. But Charlie was worried for Sarah's emotional well being. She knew full well what kind of toll it took to be in love with a man that just seemed to be no good for you.

Years of emotional abuse had made Charlie feel good for nothing, ugly, dumb, and only worthy of the shabby life her husband had built for them. Months of seperation had taught Charlie just how strong and worthwhile she was. But that didn't mean that there weren't still scars on her. There were plenty. Charlie would always doubt her worth, her looks, her smarts. And more than all her ability as a mother; the one thing Matt would always tell her she was failing miserably at. Her scars were deep and plentiful. No, Charlie didn't worry for her kids, she worried for Sarah.

Mark was a different type of man. He had never belittled Sarah. He had never taken the time to tear down her self esteem to make himself feel like more of a man. No, he had never done anything other than try to make sure that Sarah was happy. But Charlie knew that the back and forth game that he was currently playing would have hurtful consequences.

True to his word Mark had said been to Sarah's and back quickly. He had also said nothing about spending the night at Charlie's. He told Sida to say nothing about spending the night, that it hurt her mama's feelings and Sida readily agreed. She would do anything to try and get her mother and father back together. Telling Sarah that Charlie had called, very sick and needing somewhere to bring the kids Mark asked her very kindly to watch the kids for a part of the day.

Sarah smiled and said "sure, no problem" like there was no problem. But deep down she felt another small piece of her heart break. Mark had never been so attentive to her needs. She could not recall a time when he had gone out of his way to do just a bit more than necessary whenever she was sick.

"So, is Charlie really that sick?" she asked partly out of concern and partly out of the resentment that was building inside of her.

Mark nodded his head and placed Sida in her room sound asleep. He brushed her hair back from her face and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. "She's real bad off," he said quietly as Sarah settled in Jake and Jasmine. "When I was leaving she was hunched over the toilet again. I think she'll be in and out all day long."

Sarah nodded and closed the door to the kids' room as Mark walked out. "It's definitely better if the kids don't catch that. Especially Jas, she's too small and young to get sick like that. It could be dangerous."

"That's why Charlie was so desperate to get them out of there. Thanks again sweet girl. You don't know what this means to her. She was so worried that you wouldn't want to help out."

Sarah waved him off even though she felt like standing there agreeing. No she didn't want to help out the woman who had the potential to take Mark away forever, but she couldn't say no to the kids that needed help. "Don't be silly. The kids are great and I would be happy to watch them for the day."

Mark impulsively pulled her into a hug and leaned down taking in Sarah's scent. Oh god how he had loved this woman. She had taken hold of his heart the way that no one else had. He would never be used to the idea that a simple memory of her would make him ache. A simple thought of how great things had been made him feel cold and empty. Sarah had become so much of who he was he could not change that.

"You will always be my sweet little girl," he whispered heavily, his voice filled with the emotions that had been getting the better of him.

Sarah kept her tears in, dumbfounded by Mark's blatant show of emotion. One minute it seemed like there was no hope for their marriage and then it turned around to seem like he still had all the love in the world for her. But before she could manage a reply Mark was down the stairs and by the door.

"Thank you Sarah, you don't what this means to me and Charlie. I'm going to go check on her, I'll be back to check on things later on."

With that last sentiment Mark was out the door and in his truck, and Sarah was crushed. He had said "me and Charlie". He had made an "us" out of what was supposed to be "her". Sarah saw her last hope crushed under the careless words of the man that she had loved over the last decade. And still somehow she could not let go of the thought that she could get him back somehow. Even if the chances were extremely bleak.

* * *

Charlie looked around her clothing store and groaned. It was already ten o'clock at night and there was still so much work to be done. But there was no helping it. The days that she had taken off because of her stomach virus put everything out of order and behind schedule. Her co-manager had gone over their payroll hours because she refused to put in extra work. Paperwork hadn't gotten done, and necessary display changes were left undone because no one wanted to take on the responsibility. Two days off of work and Charlie was still fixing things a week later.

"I swear I'm going to fire Melissa any day now," Charlie grumbled to herself working quickly to put the store in order. "Hey girls, a half hour more and we're done, let's get it done quick," Charlie spoke up watching as her employess ran around with renewed vigor; eager to go home just as she was.

Her ringing phone startled her and brought her out of daydreams. She hadn't seen Mark for a week. He was on a long tour and wouldn't be back for another few days but she missed him. He had been nothing but sweet and caring while she was sick. She was still amazed that nothing had happened to him, the way he had hovered over her, tending to her every moment she was certain he would get sick too. But true to his word Mark never showed any signs of getting sick.

"Hello," she answered happily, certain of who would be on the other end of the line.

"You say that like you know it's me," Mark's rich deep voice was filled with amusement.

"It is you," Charlie stated happily. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good. I'm home," Mark said laughingly waiting for the shock or squeal of excitement that he knew was going to come on any moment.

"You're what? I thought you wouldn't be home till next week?"

"A couple of shows got moved around so I got home a few days early. Are you happy?"

"Are you kidding? I'm ecstatic. I can actually see you when I'm not dazed or ready to vomit," Charlie said laughing.

"How about some late dinner tonight?" Mark asked eager to see Charlie.

"Umm, tonight won't work. I'm still working and then I have to go get Jake and Jas from Matt's place."

"Matt's place? I thought you said they weren't going over there any time soon?" Mark tried to keep the worry and disapproval from his voice. They weren't his kids, he couldn't tell Charlie what was right and wrong.

Charlie let out a long deep breath. "I know, and I didn't want to, but everything with work fell apart and Matt was the only option I had. I can't lose my job," she finished quietly knowing that Mark was disappointed.

"I understand little one, you did what you had to."

"Except I don't think it was the right thing to do. Jake called me up not too long ago and told me that he wanted to come home. He was supposed to stay the night but he doesn't want to."

"What does that mean?" Mark asked anxiously.

"That something is wrong. Jake was upset, sad about something. He said that Matt was asking him questions, a lot of questions that he didn't want to answer. And now he just wants to come home."

Charlie kept working as she spoke of her worries to Mark. She knew that although Mark worried he would never judge her. She did all that she could for her children, and did the best she could by them. If something did happen to them she would not forgive herself for a long time.

Sighing she looked around the store. There was as much done correctly, as there was that needed to corrected. But it was late and everyone was exhausted.

"Go on home," she told everyone. "It's in great shape to open and we've done all we could for tonight."

Stopping in front of Matt's apartment Charlie groaned. She hated doing this, hated seeing Matt when all he wanted to talk about was how he loved her and was willing to do anything for her while she was cruel and heartless. She could tell herself over and over that it wasn't true, but she always left feeling just a slight bit worse about herself then when she walked through his door.

"Matt," Charlie called walking through the door into the living room. "I'm here to get the kids."

Matt appeared in an instant with a look of pure fury on his face. "No, you said they were going to stay the night, you aren't taking them anywhere."

Charlie sighed and put her head down. "I'm not here to fight. We talked about this already you know that. Jake called me up, he doesn't want to stay here, he isn't happy. I'm not going to force him to stay, so will you please just get their things so that I can get them out of here."

"No!," The force of Matt's voice sent Charlie's eyes flying ope in an instant. "You won't take my kids from me! That's all that you want to do isn't it? You just want to make me suffer!"

Charlie set her jaw in a hard line and moved closer to Matt in a dangerous way. She knew herself, knew her temper was close to becoming out of control. "Matt, I am not here to make you suffer. God, I took nearly a week off of work to take care of you. I brought them over here before I said I would. I tried to trust you, I tried to see the good in you. You're making that impossible. You've made me suffer for years now please, just get their things so we can go."

"They aren't going anywhere."

"Mommy," the samll voice caught Charlie's attention and she was at his side in an instant. "Are we going home now?"

"Yes honey, we're going home. Let's get your stuff ready."

Charlie moved around Matt and sent Jake ahead of her to his room to pack up his things. But before she could make it down the hall herself two strong, lean arms grabbed her waist forcefully shoving her backward.

"I told you that they aren't going anywhere tonight."

"Don't touch me again Matt, not unless you want to live. I should kill you now where you stand for upsetting Jake, just let us leave."

"I did nothing to Jake!" He said taking the nearest object and throwing it against the wall with shattering force. "You told him that I wasn't a good dad. You poisoned him against me. It's because of you that he doesn't want to see me anymore."

Jake was in the hallway in one quick movement shaking his head. "No daddy that's not true, mommy always says to love you. I don't want to stay because he keeps asking me questions mommy. He keeps telling me that you won't love me when you get another man. What does that mean?"

Charlie's eyes held fire in them as she locked her gaze on Matt. "Jake honey go on in your room and stay there. Don't come out until Mommy tells you to." Charlie waited until Jake was in the room with the door soundly shut before rounding on Matt.

"You sick, sadistic son of a—"

"I only told him the truth!" Matt yelled cutting off Charlie. "That new man of yours is going to take care of your needs and what will you need the kids for?"

Charlie turned to make her way to Jake's room wanting nothing more than to get her kids out of the apartment. Matt grabbed her forearm squeezing with all of his strength. "You are not going to turn and walk away from me."

Charlie yanked her arm forcefully out of his grasp ignoring the throbbing pain now in her arm. "I got the right to walk away from you at anytime the moment I walked out on you."

Moving quickly to the room Charlie grabbed Jasmine and Jake's things, taking both her kids in a hurry to get out of the apartment.

"They are my kids too and I deserve to see them anytime that I want!"

Charlie turned on her heels levelling Matt with a glare. "They won't be seeing you at all unless you figure out what is wrong with you."

Placing her kids on the car, it wasn't until she turned to close the door that she realized Matt had followed her all the way outside.

"You're not leaving with my kids. How dare you turn my own son against me?"

Charlie rolled her eyes and shut the door. "You did that to yourself. How dare you tell my son that I won't love him anymore?"

In a flash Matt had opened the door and stuck his head inside. "You listen to me Jake, your mommy is good for nothing. If she could she would leave you with anyone just so she could go and see that man of hers. She doesn't care about you at all."

Charlie had tears streaming down her face as she screamed at Matt. She didn't know who this man in front of her was. She pulled at him uselessly while he kept up his rant to his two crying children. It wasn't until Matt picked Charlie up and harshly through her to the ground that Charlie saw red. Never before had she been physically abused by a man and it wasn't going to start now.

With one last hard pull Matt got out of the car spinning around to face Charlie. "I told you that if you touched me again you'd be lucky if you weren't dead and I meant it."

"Now you know how it feels to have your kids turned against you," Matt said coldly moving his hands as if to grab Charlie again.

In one swift movement Charlie shot out her fist with all her might connecting with Matt's jaw. The crunching sound she heard was satisfaction enough. Seeing Matt bend over and spit out blood along with chips from a few of his teeth just made it that much better.

"Don't you dare come near any of us again or I'll do worse," Charlie said in a deadly calm voice. "Next time I will kill you." And as the words came out of her mouth, she knew that it was true. Never in her life had she said truer words. The realization was as scary as it was calming.

Wiping the tears off her face she climbed into the car and looked the doors turning to her kids in the backseat. "There's nothing to cry about anymore ok? We're going to go home and forget all this ever happened."

"Mommy, I don't want to see daddy anymore."

Charlie nodded letting her angry tears flow freely. "Ok baby, mommy won't make you do anything you don't want to do. I love you so so much."

With trembling fingers Charlie tried to start the car, fumbling and dropping the keys in the process. She cursed softly under her breath and picked up her phone dialing the one number she knew would help her.

"Mark," she said outright emotional. "Can you come get me?"

"Charlie what happened? Where are you?"

"I'm at Matt's. We got into a big thing and I'm too messed up to drive. Please, I have Jake and Jasmine."

"Just tell me where and I'll be there as fast as I can," Mark promised already moving to get dressed.

Nothing went through his mind except getting his hands on the lowlife man that Charlie called her husband. He had no idea what happened but he didn't have to. For Charlie to call him in such a state of panic meant that something terrible had happened.

His thoughts stayed with him until he drove up next to Charlie's truck, noticing how Matt seemed to slither inside like a spineless worm the moment he showed up. Mark let out a primal growl before getting out of the truck and knocking on Charlie's window.

She nodded and unlocked the doors so that Mark could climb in. "So you want to tell me what happened?"

Taking in a deep shaky breath Charlie nodded. "Matt—he went crazy. He started screaming at me about how I was turning the kids against him, he shoved me around a bit and we got out of there. Got in the car and he started telling the kids, right in Jake's face that I didn't love them. God I could kill him!" she screamed out throwing her hands against any part of the steering wheel that she could find. "He threw me on the ground and went to hit me, so I punched him. I cracked his teeth, hopefully even his jaw."

Mark threw his head back and laughed despite his fierce anger. "You banged him up?"

Charlie nodded. "I'm not about to be abused by a man," she said calmly and self assured.

"He tried to hit you?" Charlie nodded and Mark let out a long breath. "Did he hurt you at all?"

"The worst of it is my hand from punching him."

"He tried to hit you," Mark said again unable to get past that simple point. "I'll be right back."

"Mark no!" Charlie yelled quickly. "He didn't hurt me and he doesn't need you going in there to 'teach him some sort of lesson'. I just need to get my kids home."

"Charlie he—"

"I said no. Please just take us home." She looked at Mark with red swollen eyes that were still letting tears fall with abandon. "I just need to go I need to get out of here before—God," she yelled out suddenly. "After everything that I've gone through I never thought that—uh—he tried to hit me!" she pounded at the steering wheel freely until Mark took her shaky hands and lifted her out of the driver seat placing her where he was a moment ago.

"Alright little darlin' alright, we're going to get you home now. I promise I won't be turning around and confronting Matt tonight."

"Thank you," Charlie said tiredly.

"You're welcome, little darling."

Mark stayed quiet as everyone in the car calmed down and fell into a light sleep. He heard Jake's quiet whining all through the night. His sudden fits of crying, and pleading with his mother to stay with him. Mark saw nothing but anger, murder, and vengeance. No, Mark would not turn around during the night; this family needed him tonight. But the morning would see them a bit more put together. And it would afford Mark a better view on his anger. He would decide carefully just how to pick Matt apart into slow little pieces, and enjoy the torture all the more.


	10. Chapter 10

Charlie groaned stretching her arms above her head. Her alarm had been going off for twenty minutes. Slowly yelling at her to get up and start her day. Keeping her eyes shut tight she felt the bruises that were forming on her arm and hand. The pain was the only thing that told Charlie that last night had not been a nightmare. It was the only piece of evidence that would tell everyone just how far into crazy Matt had sunk. There was no denying that the man he was now, was not the man that she had decided to marry all those years ago. He was different. Cruel and bitter, over things that Charlie had no control over. How could she possibly help him? How could she save their marriage if he was this angry at nothing.

She reached across the bed to her night stand and grabbed her phone. She had been so upset she wasn't sure if Mark had stayed the night, and she would check that later. Right now the only thing that she wanted to do was talk to the one person that would give her support without judging her straight away. It was only eight a.m. but Charlie's sister was always an early riser and she knew that she wouldn't wake her up.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the concerned voice of her sister broke through any anxiety that Charlie was having.

"Now why does something have to be wrong for me to call my little sister?"

She smiled easily when she heard her sister chuckle. She could picture it in her mind, her sister sitting straight up wherever she was waiting for the bad news. Charlie would never call so early in the morning if something wasn't wrong, they both knew that.

"I almost stabbed Matt last night," Charlie said seriously, not knowing another way to start off the conversation.

"Good, not that he wouldn't deserve. So what happened this time? Did he start in on you guys getting back together?"

"He tried to hit me," Charlie closed her eyes bracing herself for the reaction that she knew was coming out of her sister. They were raised fighters; they were raised to protect each other. And though Charlie was always up for a fight, she hated doing it. There was no one in their family that would go in fighting for their family and come out smiling besides her sister. She was the fiercest protector of everyone in their family.

"What? I cannot believe that he sunk that low. What was he thinking? Has he gone crazy? Tell me that he went crazy because that is the only way that I am not flying out there today to go and beat this guy down until he has another heart attack."

Charlie waited for a few more minutes until she heard her sisters ranting finally begin to calm down. "Are you done now?"

"For the most part. Ok Char, what on God's green earth happened last night?"

Charlie smiled at her sister's expressions. She had so many ways to express something that someone might curse over or say in two words. "I wish I knew. Jake called me up and was so upset. He was practically crying on the phone to me telling me that he didn't want to stay. I had to drop them off at Matt's so that I could go to work. They haven't been spending much time there since—well you know." It was not an expression. Her sister was the only one that did know every in and out of her twisted relationship with Matt. Even though they were separated there was something that still sat in Charlie trying to protect her from her mother's harsh judgment. She didn't want them to think that Matt was all bad. Even though he had just proven her wrong. "Since he went off the deep end that one time. Anyway, with Jake so upset I went to go pick the kids up. I wasn't gonna leave them there when they didn't want to be there. They're already going through so much as it is. And he just lost it when I showed up."

"Did he actually hit you?"

"Billy, do you think that I would let that happen? I hit him after he took the first swing. I broke my nails too, and I just got them done. What a waste of money."

They both sat together laughing and talking about what had happened. As Charlie knew she would, Billy never said a word that wasn't encouraging or supportive. She had told Charlie to stay far away from Matt until he truly sought out professional help, and that the kids shouldn't be near him. That was where Charlie waivered. She knew that Matt was falling off the deep end and fast; but a boy needed his father. He needed to know what a good man was like. And most of all she needed a free babysitter when her work schedule got out of hand.

"I'll just move up my visit. I was supposed to fly out in like two weeks, I'll come out now. I can watch the kids until you guys get over this."

"Billy, I don't want you to think that you have to do that. You have work and everything."

"Oh please, things have been so slow and boring; I don't know what to do with half of my day. Besides I can do what I want, they love me here. You need me more and I'm flying out. I'll let you know when to pick me up tomorrow."

"Alright, thanks Billy. It'll be good having you around for a little while. I miss you kid. And you can finally meet Mark."

"Mark? Oh the guy that's been hanging around when the kids play. Yeah, sure why not."

Charlie could not contain her excitement. She had never told her sister that Mark was the Undertaker. She had only mentioned a sweet man that was helping her watch over the kids when they had play dates. Between knowing that her sister and Mark would meet and envisioning the pure shock on Billy's face, Charlie was nearly giddy by the time she hung up the phone and walked downstairs.

Mark had rolled out of bed when he heard the soft crying of Jake for the third time during the night. Jake wouldn't remember but he had been crying on and off in his sleep and it broke Mark's heart. The poor boy was innocent, and suffering for the mistakes of his parents. He had tried the best he could to calm Jake down every time so that Charlie wouldn't wake up. They were both emotionally exhausted.

When it turned seven and Jake sat there looking at Mark with tired but happy eyes Mark knew there would be no more sleep.

Leading Jake downstairs as quietly as he could make a seven year old be he began to root around the kitchen for something to make for breakfast. He was always hungry, and he knew that nothing was better for a child to deal with any sort of trauma than distraction. Talking to Sida's therapist he had been told that sometimes all the child needs is to have some positive interaction to feel safe and secure. Mark was certain that there had to be a more manly way to say, spend time with the kid; but none the less he got the message.

"Hey Jake, what do ya say that we make mommy some pancakes and eggs? Does she like that?"

Jake smiled and nodded his head vigorously dancing around in place. "Mommy likes all of that. She likes to eat a lot."

"Alright then, let's get cooking. Can you get me the eggs out of the fridge little man?"

The pair fell into an easy rhythm laughing at the mess they were making, and happily making breakfast. It was the scene that Charlie walked in that made her heart just a bit lighter.

"And what are the two of you up to in here?" She asked watching as they turned towards her both smiling.

"Uh-oh it was supposed to be a surprise mommy. Can we tell her?" Jake whispered loudly as he turned to look at Mark.

"You can tell her. I think it'll make her real happy."

"We made you breakfast! It's pancakes and some eggs. You don't have to do nothing today."

"I don't have to do anything baby, not nothing. And that is very sweet. I still have to work in a little bit but we'll have a nice breakfast first."

She walked over picking Jake up, who was undoubtedly getting too tall to be picked up by her. That did not matter though. She needed to feel his weight, and that he was truly with her and unharmed. She needed just the slight bit of reassurance that she hadn't completely screwed up all over again.

"Hey little darlin', how are you feeling today?" Mark asked softly setting a plate down in front of her.

"I am a bit of everything. I'm relieved that nothing else happened. I'm so glad that you were there for me, thank you so, so much. I just think that I'm still processing what happened and trying to figure out where to go from there. Oh and Jake, guess who's coming to visit us?"

"Who?"

"Your aunt Billy is coming. You get to play with her for a whole week." She laughed as Jake broke out into a huge smile. She felt the same way. One of the hardest things about moving was leaving her sister behind.

"Who's coming now?" Mark asked confused by what had just happened.

"My sister Billy. I know, I know it's another strange name for a woman. My parents kinda got hooked on the whole name your girl like a guy thing after I was born what can I say? It became this crazy kinda tradition."

"I see. When's she coming in?" Mark asked trying to hide his nervousness. He would never admit it, but meeting family was a big deal. With friends it meant that you were trusted enough to become part of the family. With someone you were dating it was a way to see if the rest of them thought you measured up to what they wanted. Either way, it was something that he hadn't done all that often.

"Next couple of days, and I cannot wait. You're going to love her I just know it. She's the best."

"Does she know about what—about last night?"

"Hmm? Oh, god yeah of course. I think that's actually why she's trying to fly out so fast. To come here and beat the holy crap outta him."

Mark let out a long breath and nodded his head. At least her sister had common sense. He couldn't stand the ones that tried to stand up for the scum bags. He had a heart, but sometimes a person just was not worth caring about.

Charlie looked up from her plate and studied Mark's face laughing as she saw that he was a bit fidgety. "Mark, are you nervous to meet my sister big man?"

"What? NO, of course not, why would I be?"

"You are!" Charlie couldn't help the peal of laughter that came out of her. To envision Mark being afraid to meet her sister was something that was beyond comical to her. "You know that all you would have to do is lift up your boot and squash her. She's like three inches shorter than I am and you're scared of her."

"I'm not scared of her Charlie. But ya' know meeting the family is a big deal. I don't usually do it. People get scared off with the tattoos and the hair."

"Mark, Billy loves tattoos; she's got like seven or eight herself. Nothing like you, but tattoos do not frighten her. You won't scare her off. You should be more afraid that she's going to go crazy fan stalker on you." At Mark's curious expression she bit the corner of her lip and gave a nervous smile. "I never told her that you are the Undertaker."

"So, she's in for a big surprise then."

"She'll love you even more for it. She won't have time to hate you if she's busy being all start struck."

Mark laughed and forced himself to relax a bit. He would worry about Charlie's sister when she actually arrived. For the moment he wanted to focus on what had happened last night. It was the only thing that his mind kept focusing on. Seeing Charlie that distraught and holding Jake through his nightmares made it the only pressing concern for the day.

"Charlie, are you ok, about what happened?"

Charlie stared at Mark's face for a long moment. She was surprised by the amount of concern and tenderness that was written all over him. The truth was that she was not fine. She had wanted to cry from the moment that she walked downstairs and saw the two making breakfast. She had not had someone make her breakfast in years. Matt couldn't bother to get out of bed to make sure that his kids were clean and fed; he had not once thought to make breakfast for her. Whether it was the emotion from last night still sitting with her, or the tender sight of her little boy happy and cared for, she was close to tears.

"Hey, Jake honey, why don't you go on and get dressed. I have to drop you off at the babysitter's on the way to work. And see if your sister is up," Charlie said to him watching as he jumped off his chair and raced up the stairs. "I'm not ok, I'm angry and shocked, and too many other things to describe. I'm everything at once and I don't know what to feel."

Mark laid his hand on top of hers squeezing it reassuringly. He hadn't known what to say or do when he first got up with Jake. Making sure that the little man was ok was his first priority. Jake loved to play fight and act like he was all of the super hero's that he loved to watch on t.v. but Mark knew that Jake was just as tender hearted and sensitive as his mommy. He did not give himself time to think about Charlie. Now as she sat next to him with a lost look on her face, he was even more lost as to what to do with her.

"You're not hurt at all though? I mean he didn't do anything to you right?"

"No, no, I'm fine. My hand hurts, but that's from punching him out. I told you last night that I didn't let him do anything."

Mark picked up her hand kissing it softly. "That's my girl. I knew that I liked you for a reason."

Charlie smiled and tried to think of something clever to say. But just like every other time that Mark touched her it left her slightly dazed and speechless. His effect on her had not worn off over the last month or so. It had only made it grow stronger. Seeing that Mark might not be the person she thought he was in the beginning did not bother her in the slightest. He was tough, and stubborn, she had seen that many times first hand. She had also seen just how deeply he loved and felt. His heart was torn over hurting Sara, and the gentle way that he handled Sida Lee showed her that he was more gentle and caring than he let show.

"I'm gonna get going," Mark said quietly not wanting to ruin whatever thought process Charlie had going on in her head.

"What? Why? I don't have to leave for another hour at least. I can drive you home."

"Nah, I'm just gonna call a cab and go pick up my truck."

Charlie nodded and stood up from the table. She couldn't quite understand why she was suddenly feeling abandoned. She knew that it had something to do with what had happened. It hardly mattered though. All that she wanted was for Mark to stay close to her to help her feel safe. Had anything else been on her mind, she might have realized just what a bad idea it was to let Mark go anywhere near her ex's apartment.

She went over to her sink and stood washing the dishes. It was something she never did. Normally she would drag herself home from work and maybe do a few dishes. Cleaning was never a top priority. She was just lucky that she was not truly home enough to make any large messes. She let the hot water spray over the dishes and her hands. She concentrated only on the feel of the sponge between her fingers and the suds dancing over the plates. She did not want to cry. The lump that sat in the back of her throat begging to be released angered her. She was so strong last night. How could she feel so weak now after everything had happened?

"Hey now, little darlin' what's going on?" Mark stood behind her lying his big hands on her shoulders. He wanted to spin her around and see her face; but something about the way that she held herself so tense and rigid told him that it might be better to leave her where she was.

"Nothing, it's fine. I'm fine. Thanks for staying last night. I know that you didn't have to, and you did anyway. It really helped a lot, knowing that we weren't alone. I don't even know what would have happened if I didn't have you to call up. I mean how was I supposed to drive home? I could barely see with the way that I was crying so hard. I would have just been sitting there like some giant moron at the wheel, trying to calm down when it would probably make me cry harder. And you came and you helped me after you just got home and all you wanted to do was sleep. I didn't want to bother you, but my family is a thousand miles away, the only people I know are from work. God how weird would that be to have someone from work come pick me up? They'd all want to know what was going on and ask me a thousand questions, and then I would have to fire everyone and get new people."

Mark had listened to Charlie continue her rant for a good two minutes doing his best not to laugh. She seemed to worry about nothing and everything all at once and it was a sudden outpour of stress and emotion.

"Charlie, you have got to slow down. I don't know how anyone can understand you when you go off speaking like that. You're not telling me what's going on in that head of yours."

"I'm just dealing with everything that's all. I promise, I just need to get myself busy and I'll work it out. I'm good about doing things like that, I just need some time."

"Are you sure?"

"Mark," Charlie was getting exasperated. She knew that he was trying to help but she didn't need him hovering over her acting like she was made of cracked glass. Even if that was exactly how she felt.

"Ok, Ok," Mark held up his hands in surrender laughing at her. He knew that she was about ready to fall apart. That didn't seem to matter to her though. Whatever it was that she wanted, she wasn't asking for it. "I'll be back after you get off of work little girl. I'm not leaving you alone for a while. No matter what you say," he added in quickly seeing Charlie about to make a refusal. His tone was hard and edgy. He was already geared up for a fight and he didn't want to start a fight with Charlie.

Charlie gave a hard smile and nodded her head. She hated feeling so helpless but Mark was trying to care for her. How could she not let him?

"That's a good girl. I have to go get my car, so I'm gonna go call a cab and say goodbye to those wonderful monsters upstairs. Don't forget I will be here later so wear something skimpy."

Charlie finally let out a full laugh and smacked Mark with the dish towel in her hand. "In your dreams buddy."

"Oh, so you do know what I'm thinking," he growled out kissing her fast and hard before going to call his cab.

The things that he wanted to do to Charlie were basic instinct and he always had to walk away before he took things too far. She was too alluring for her own good. The worst of it was she knew that she was attractive and what looked the best on her. It seemed to Mark that every time he saw her she looked better and better. How was he supposed to keep himself away from her and allow her to sort through all of her feelings if she looked the way she did?

But as Mark climbed into the taxi the only thing that was on his mind was the man that had crawled under his skin in the worst possible way. He knew that Charlie would disapprove of him killing Matt. She would probably disapprove of breaking any part of his body as well, but Mark just could not curb his desire for that.

Pounding on Matt's door for ten minutes did nothing but get Mark even more worked up. He needed to at least confront the man by talking to him. Mark wasn't trying to be a knight in shining armor. He was simply doing what he thought was best for the family that was becoming such a large part of his life. And the automatic look of fear that spread across Matt's face as he opened the door was more satisfaction to Mark than he had experienced in the longest time.

"Hey Matty boy, I thought maybe we could have a little chat," Mark ground out through his clenched door as his body filled the door frame and his arm kept the door from closing.


	11. Chapter 11

To Mark there was nothing better than being able to intimidate someone. To know that with a certain look, a certain tone of voice he could make someone feel less than what they were was an exhilarating feeling to him. It was why he had the ring entrance he did. It was who he was deep in the core of him. He knew how to use his seven foot frame and deep voice to make someone shake with fear. He had had years of practice to master how to manipulate someone. It was why he rarely ever used it.

He wanted people to know that he had a heart and a sense of humor. He wanted to show them that he was more than thick black eyeliner and a trench coat.

Except for now.

Now he wanted to use every bit of his strength, his height and his voice to make Matt thoroughly afraid of him. This time he was going to enjoy every quiver and break in the lowlife's voice. He wanted to laugh as Matt wet himself and tried to play brave all at the same time. Mark was feeling savage enough to want to strip Matt of his flesh and chew on his bones. That feeling though would have to wait.

"Hey, listen man whatever She told you to get you to come over here she's lying about it. She came over here screaming and trying to take my kids from me. The only thing I wanted was to see my kids!"

"Now Matty you're under the impression that I wanna hear you talk. When I said chat, I meant that you would be a good little boy and listen. Whatever comes out of your useless mouth ain't nothing I'm interested in hearing."

Mark smiled, slamming the door open since Matt was still doing his best to hide behind it.

"I get it. You're her guard dog now."

"That woman, those kids, they're some of the best people I have ever known. They deserve better than then likes of you. If I'm being honest they deserve better than the likes of me as well. Either way if I have to stand in between them and you to keep them safe then that's what I'm gonna do. So yeah, I guess I'm their guard dog and I don't mind it one bit."

Mark stood with his chest pressing up against Matt. He wanted to say so much but he stood in silence. Wave after wave of rage was pulsing through him. It was so strong it felt like a living, breathing organism sitting inside of him. Setting him on fire from the inside out.

He had seen Charlie cry and hurt over Matt more than he was possibly worth. She had made herself the only guilty one in their marriage falling apart. And no matter what Mark had tried to tell her there was no convincing her otherwise. She couldn't see past the fact that she had to walk out. It never mattered that Matt was easily emotionally abusive or that he was clearly mentally unstable. All that mattered to Charlie was that she had walked out on Matt and caused him stress.

Mark had spent the night comforting Jake as he began crying in his sleep and woke up terrified to be alone.

The family was heartbroken over a man that to Mark barely deserved to be alive. He couldn't understand why Matt had such a tight hold over Charlie. He probably never would and it really did not matter. All Mark wanted was for Matt to hurt and bleed like Charlie and her kids had.

"Go on guard dog, do whatever you want to me. I'll have you thrown in jail so fast you won't know the handcuffs got slapped on you."

"Maybe I will. Then again I think I've got enough money to spread around so I won't be in too long. I could get out a week later and come back to finish off what I started." He smirked as Matt backed away a few steps.

This was what he was best at. Matt may have walked all over Charlie but Mark was born and raised to be a fighter. He had always and would always protect the ones that couldn't do it themselves.

"Alright man, you wanna do this then let's do it. Show me what you got outside of that ring. That is, if you have anything at all guard dog."

"Let's go little man. You wanna talk like a man then stand up like one. Come on." He couldn't contain the smile that came across his face as he watched Matt fly to the floor with the shove he had given to him. "Get up little man. I'll show you what I can do."

Matt sat on the floor stunned by what was happening. He wasn't sure if it would be better to stand up or stay down. The only thing that he did know was that Mark hadn't backed down or even hesitated once.

"Look man, I don't even know what I did to get you all upset. I know things got out of hand last night but we don't need to do this." Matt had not moved from his place on the floor and he had no intention to.

"Of course they just got a little out of hand. You say that to every woman you hit? Or just to the man that comes over to rip you to shreds?"

"Come on bro we can find another way to work this out."

Mark stood looking down on Matt wanting nothing more than to see his boot sitting on Matt's ribs.

"Now ya' see I don't think we can 'work this out' any other way. You hurt Charlie and that don't set well with me. And you most certainly are not my bro."

"So what you think a couple punches are gonna teach me some type of lesson? You think she's worth it?"

"Now come on Matty boy who do you think I am? I'm not stupid boy. I know every bone in the human body. I can kick your knee caps in and then break your femur just for fun. You'd need to use a cane for the rest of your life. Maybe that would be a lesson learned."

Matt knew that he couldn't win. If Mark wanted to hurt him, he would. But neither man moved. Mark stood rhythmically clenching his fists trying to convince himself that hurting Matt would not hurt Charlie though he knew that it would. He knew that Matt could use it to make Charlie feel guilty once more. No matter what Matt had done Mark could not be responsible for anything that could hurt her in any way remotely possible. She always called them friends because there was no better word. The depth of his feelings could never be described by something so simple, but his loyalty to her was something he gave everyone he cared for. He couldn't hurt Matt. Not when he knew it would mean losing Charlie.

"So the guard dog's on a leash," Matt said happily as he stood up. "Never thought someone like you would wind up being leashed by someone like her."

"That's alright; I don't mind it so much when I get to see them so happy. Besides, Jake doesn't mind it at all. In fact he seems real happy when I'm around. He can't wait until he can show me off to all his friends at their little school play," he smirked as he saw Matts look of confusion. "You know that Aladdin play all the kids are doing? I think he just likes to have a real man around to introduce to everyone."

He could see the fury in Matt's eyes and knew that he had not been told about the play by anyone.

"Don't worry about it; I'll make sure that he has a nice time. Oh, and I'll take plenty of pictures of him _bro_."

Mark saw it happening before Matt had even moved. He wanted to get Matt angry. He needed an excuse to hit the poor excuse of a man that was just outside his reach. He would not attack Matt outright, knowing what that would do to Charlie. However He would never let Matt walk all over him just because of Charlie. And as he side stepped a lunging Matt, the hard thud that accompanied his fist being buried deep in Matt's stomach was sick satisfaction.

Hearing him sputtering and gasping for breath made Mark laugh. He wanted to do so much more, but this would have to do.

"Here's a fun fact that you don't know about me. I've been boxing since I was a kid. If I wanted to break you apart I could. Without a second thought. Now I'm trying to be friendly but you're making it real hard. If I let you up, are you gonna try and hit me again?" Mark hovered over Matt looking at him with all the rage that he felt in his body. "I won't hit ya' for Charlie's sake but it doesn't mean that I won't defend myself if you come after me."

"What do you want?" Matt asked in wheezing breathes.

"What I want is to see you bleed all over yourself so you can know just how scared Charlie and Jake were last night. What _they_ want is to have someone step up and be a man for them. Now that's where you come in. Don't worry I'm not asking you to do something that is impossible for you to do."

"I'm a man. I'm more a man that you are, coming in here and—"

"And laying you flat when you talk a big game like a punk? I'm trying to be friendly _bro._ Don't make it harder than it has to be."

Matt stood up taking deep breathes wanting to be the man that Mark would find intimidating. He would never know that Mark would never come across such a person. He thrived at face to face conflict and would never shy away from it. Still, though, Matt stood and did his best to lift himself up and make himself look Mark in the eyes.

"You're going to stay away from them. It's not a joke, it's not a request, it's what gonna happen. Whatever is going on in your head, you keep it away from them. And before you can say anything about how am I gonna stop you, I'm gonna warn you now. I will be with them all the time. I'll take them on the road with me if I have to. I'll be outside that front door, in that house, in her _bed_, watching and waiting for you to slip and do something stupid."

Before Matt had registered that he had begun to throw another punch, Mark's fist had connected with his jaw.

"I think we're done for today. Why don't you walk me outside?" Mark had phrased it as a question, but the hard grip that he had on Matt's arm left Matt no choice but to follow. "Oh, careful watch yourself. Doorways can be kinda tricky," Mark said lightly as he steered Matt's shoulder into the doorway.

"Now we're gonna be friends after this. I'll be your shadow, your conscience. If you ever think of going near there or doing something stupid, just think for a minute. Ask yourself, what would Mark do to me? If the answer is breaking your legs in half, I suggest you don't do it."

Mark stopped in front of his car and shoved Matt away from him causing Matt to stumble. "Dude, what is your problem?" Matt asked enraged. He knew that he was no match for Mark physically, but he couldn't just sit back and do nothing. He wanted to be seen as a man, not a puny coward. Even if he knew that he was one, and there wasn't a bone of bravery or selflessness in his body.

"Don't be so mad Matty boy," Mark said loudly laughing. "I'm just messing with you a bit. We're friends, that's what friends do. I'll be seeing you soon Matt," Mark said smiling and laughing as a crowd of people passed by on the street. "Me and you, we'll be in touch," he was still smiling but his tone of voice was much more threatening than it was friendly.

He watched Matt run back inside before he started his car and drove back home.

It wasn't until he had pulled into his driveway that he felt the effects of the last night. Normally whenever he had come back from the road he spent a full day asleep in bed. He wasn't as young as he used to be, and his body felt all the effects of running at full speed for weeks at a time. He fell face first into bed, knowing that when he woke up he would have to go see his kids, and actually deal with everything that Sarah had told him. Now that he was back at home, there was no running from what he knew he had to deal with.

It was why he had turned off his phone. It was why he was doing his best to stop the day from moving forward. He wasn't sure what he would tell Sarah. He had already broken her heart once, and he knew he didn't have the strength to do it again. It was easier for him, knowing that she would keep the brave façade in place. Seeing her tears made him feel broken in a way he didn't even know existed. Their relationship may not have been conventional. She may as well have been an army wife for all the time he spent away. There were too many nights that he was too tired to place a phone call, or really show Sarah how much she meant to him. It had never been clear to him that she worried about him when he hadn't called her. He always believed that she knew he was safe. That she would understand he was tired and aching. That she worried he had been injured in a match was never something that Mark ever worried about. He had loved her to the deepest depths of his heart; but as he looked back over their relationship he could see all the ways he never showed her.

He had brought home silly trinkets for Sida, expensive souvenirs for his sons. Sarah only got a tired husband who grunted his way into bed after being on the road for a month. He had given up long ago on trying being energetic and making her feel like she always his number one despite how true it was. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty. Mark could now see too many ways to count that had made Sarah feel lonely, and unloved. For the first time since separating from her, Mark was feeling immense guilt for what he had done.

That could not be undone though. He couldn't find a way to fix what had happened in the past, so being guilty seemed wasteful. Still, he added it to the heavy boulder that he carried with him daily. His sons were old enough to resent him for not being around like other fathers. For not making the marriage with their mother work. It would not matter how hard he tried to be there for them. They were caught in the midst of their anger and would not see past it. Mark would do nothing to try to tame it though. He knew they had a right to feel bitter. What good was a large house, expensive gifts, and too many toys if they had no one there to truly share it all with? He had done that to everyone in his life. He had never meant to buy them off. As he lay with his racing thoughts, he understood that was what he had done.

For every day he was on the road he brought home a gift. He himself would be locked away in his room, asleep, in front of the TV. He would not be emotionally present, or engaged. He just wanted them to take their presents and go be happy, away from him so that he could rest. He loved them all, he just picked all the wrong ways to show them.

His therapist would be proud. The minister that had done his and Sarah's marriage counseling would applaud him for his breakthrough. What did he care though when he hadn't been able to sleep in days? He let himself breathe deep, letting his thoughts fade away until he found himself in nice deep sleep. Not allowing the dreams of Sarah's tear filled eyes to disturb what he needed most at the moment.

It wasn't until the moon was high in the sky that Mark opened his eyes, confused as to what time, or day it was. He knew that he was supposed to head over to Charlie's. That Sida was expecting him in the morning. And that his son's would be awaiting a phone call from the father that they were determined to despise at the moment. That was of course, if he hadn't already slept through all of that.

Switching back on his phone, he looked at his clock and saw that it was eight at night. He had slept for a solid eight hours. Charlie would be back from work soon enough, and he did not want her alone. He had seen it in her stance when he left her. She was terrified to be alone. She was scared and vulnerable, and had no clue how to ask Mark for the help that she desperately wanted.

He ignored his phone beeping with all the messages and missed calls that he had from the day, grabbing a shower and focusing only on getting to Charlie.

It was amazing how his body instantly calmed as he pulled into her driveway. The simple promise of seeing Charlie made him feel like the massive world of guilt he was carrying around was taken away. As if he had found a way to resolve the problems that might never be resolved.

He was surprised to see that Charlie's car was in her driveway. Looking at his watch, he was pretty certain that she was not supposed to be back for at least another hour. The fact that she was home early both scared and relieved him. To have her safe at home meant a lot to him. However, she was a work-aholic. There was no way that she would leave work early, or not go in at all unless something had happened.

With a few long strides he was at her door knocking. Most people would call it banging but he didn't care, or really notice. His heart was racing with anxiety.

"Take it easy there big man, I don't think they heard you across the border."

Mark smiled when he saw Charlie in front of him smiling. How bad could things be if she were able to smile and joke around?

"Sorry darlin' I just got a bit anxious. What are you doing back so early? Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Why are you here so early if I were working? What was your plan? To lurk outside my house like some creepy stalker?"

Mark knew that she was joking. She had a smirk on her face that told him she wasn't mad. Even still, he blushed a deep red and knew that he would need to explain himself.

"I kinda lifted your house key and had it copied. I couldn't relax knowing that you were all alone after everything that happened with Matt."

"How did you even have time for that?" Charlie laughed at Mark's over protective nature. She had too many people in her life that thought she needed looking after.

She was constantly inundated with people that had the idea that she was a damsel in distress, unable to care for herself. Mark was slightly different though. Even though he treated her as if she needed his protection, it wasn't because he thought that she was weak. He believed that she needed his protection because he cared for her. And if Mark cared for someone than they automatically needed him to protect them.

"I know people," Mark said lightly as he shrugged his large shoulders.

"I don't doubt that you do big man. Need I remind you though that I'm the one that cracked Matt's jaw last night? I do know how to take care of myself and my children. That whole mama bear thing is not a myth."

"I don't need you to remind me that you knocked around Matt. I have never been more proud of someone in my life. Your mama raised you right being able to throw a punch like that."

"Then don't come rushing over here thinking that I need you to save the day," Charlie said poking his shoulder and moving out of the doorway. "Come on in I was just making a snack for the kids before they headed off to bed."

"You never answered my question ya' know," Mark said as he followed her inside folding himself on to her couch.

"What question?"

"Why are you back from work early? I mean you told me you're a work-aholic and that you never take off from work."

"That's true but there was something very pressing that I had to take care of. I got half of my day covered to do some personal business."

Mark's eyebrows raised as he ran his hand through his ponytail. It sounded a bit ominous to him, the way she was being so allusive about this.

"Do you remember Billy?" Charlie asked him smiling a little bit more.

"Your sister? The one you said would love to meet me because I'm the Undertaker and she's a huge wrestling fan?" Charlie nodded and smiled even wider. "Should I be worried?"

"No, not at all. She just managed to catch a flight for the same day and got in about an hour ago. I went to go pick her up from the airport."

"So she's here now?" Mark asked as his heart sped up. He knew what Charlie had said. That although Billy was a bit of a ball buster that she was harmless and a great person. Even still though this was Charlie's family. This was someone who could tell Charlie that he was no good for her. He had plenty of bad experiences with in-laws and disapproving family members. His track record was spotty at best and it made him nervous.

"Yeah, she's upstairs getting the kids into pajamas. They haven't seen her in a while and I don't exist to them right now. Are you nervous Mark?" Charlie asked chuckling at Mark's nervous twitching.

"No, I'm not nervous. I mean you said she would like me right?"

"Oh my God you are nervous! I think you're sweating. Are you breaking out in nervous sweats big man? You've done extreme matches, done things that no one else would ever try and my sister is making you nervous. This is great."

"I'm not nervous, I don't get nervous. I've done fifteen WrestleMania shows and never lost one. I have climbed steel cages and flown off top ropes. I'm the Undertaker you think I get nervous little darlin'?"

"I think you're nervous now."

Mark let out a heavy sigh and reached out a long arm to grab Charlie. "Come here you. Alright so I'm feeling a bit jittery. Ain't no shame in it though." He wrapped his arms around her and he pulled Charlie into his lap where it felt right. "I'm always all jittery when I meet people's family. I got a lot to lose when I'm meeting them. When family's close like you and your sister a lot can go wrong if they don't like me."

"Are you saying that you think I might not want to have you around if my sister doesn't like you?"

"I'm sayin' that I have to worry about people changing your opinion about me. I'm a tough man to take. Real rough around the edges, so to speak."

"My sister is not one that you have to worry about. And whether or not my parent's understand you, they will understand that you make me happy. I have never once bailed out on someone because they have 'rough edges'. I won't be doing it to you."

Mark tightened his arms around Charlie and laid his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry baby girl. I shouldn't be going to you for comfort after everything that happened last night. I meant to come over here and take care of you. I saw how hard it was for you to have me leave earlier today."

"I'm doing alright, especially since I've got my sister here. Besides it's nice to see that the big man has a weakness."

"Now don't go sassing me little darlin'. Here I am trying to keep you safe and happy and you're making fun of me."

Charlie laughed at the smile on Mark's face. She knew him well enough to know when he was truly angry and when he was simply messing around with her. She was sure that he wasn't actually offended. Though she knew that he didn't like her to know that he could sweat, or get nervous. He was always the collected one that kept his emotions in check. She knew underneath that lurked a raging volcano of many emotions, but on the surface Mark was as calm as a person could be.

"Ok, ok," she said giggling. "I'm not making fun of you. Thank you for taking this seriously—honestly," she said seeing that he was trying to decipher if she was being serious. "Matt, he didn't really care about what my family meant to me. He always told me that they didn't belong in our lives, and in our relationship."

"Yeah and you believed that idiot for a while too." Mark turned his head to the unfamiliar voice that was coming from down the steps. He wasn't able to see what she looked like, she still hadn't come all the way down the steps and rounded the corner into the den where they were. "Stopped freaking talking to us until you were getting evicted because you were on maternity leave and he stopped showing up for work."

"He got sick," Charlie said nearly whispering and dropping her head.

"Please, the only thing that man came down with was a massive case of idiocy."

"Anyway," Charlie said clearing her throat. "If you didn't notice, I kind of have company."

"Yeah I heard you talking to someone. Is that famous Mark here?"

"Stop the yelling and come see for yourself," Charlie's eyes sparkled with mischief and Mark smiled at the new side of her that he had not yet seen. It was only then that Mark could see how they had gotten into so much trouble growing up. She held her hand up to her lips to make sure he didn't make a sound.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm coming." Billy came into the den stopping dead in her tracks as she looked up and down the length of Mark. "Uh, Char, is that—are you—how did—wow."

Mark laughed and moved closer to Billy holding out his hand. "Hi I'm Mark; it's nice to finally meet you. I've been hearing about you for months."

"Yeah Charlie left out a few details to me like how you're the freaking Undertaker. You've been my fan- I mean I've been your fan- not that you would be a fan of mine since I'm not famous or anything. Ok forget that let's just start over. I swear I'm not normally this stupid I just get nervous meeting people and it makes me get like this and you're—well you know who you are and—"

"Rambling," Charlie said loudly stopping Billy from speaking.

Mark laughed loudly. There was so much the same about Charlie and Billie. They looked almost completely opposite but their behaviors were so much alike. Where Charlie was lean almost to the point of lanky, Billy was toned and curved everywhere. Charlie had only two tattooes that were easily hidden. Billy had a half sleeve that covered her shoulder. Billy's round face gave her a much younger appearance while you could see the age of Charlie written all over the worry lines in her face.

"I was told that you were a big fan," he said sitting on the couch so that Billy wouldn't feel dwarfed by his size. "Charlie wanted to see the reaction when you found out who I was."

"I'm—this is freaking awesome. Have you taken her to any shows?"

Mark shook his head. "She doesn't want me to do things like that for her. Plus she's always working."

"Yeah I hate that. She has to support the kids alone while a perfectly healthy man takes advantage of her."

"I know how to take care of myself; I do just fine you guys. Need I remind you that I was the one that knocked a tooth out of Matt's mouth?" Charlie stated defensively. The two greatest protectors of her life were in the same room and it was already beginning to give her a headache.

"I would have taken a bat to his head," her sister stated firmly.

"I would have helped."

"Ok, then I guess I'll just leave the two of you to talk. I'm going to get some dinner ready for us. I'm glad you guys can bond over something. Even if it is my horrible life."

Mark watched as she walked out of the room wondering if he should follow after her. "Oh don't worry she's fine," Billy said waving a dismissive hand in the air. "It will only start a fight if you try to go after her. Let her cool off a bit, she'll see that she snapped for no reason."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. She's always been this way. Especially when it comes to Matt. So what do you think about him?"

"I don't think about him if I can help it. It felt real good to have my fist buried in his ribs a couple times though. Oh god, I shouldn't have said anything," Mark said quickly as he turned red.

"What? Did you hit him?"

"I went over there today and let him know that I was unhappy with him."

"I knew that I would like you if I ever met you in real life Taker. One thing to remember about me is that I am very rarely wrong. And I have a feeling that you and my sister are going to have a good thing together."

Mark smiled at the tiny woman sitting next to him. "Thanks Billy. By the way, I really like that half sleeve."


	12. Chapter 12

The ease at which Billy mothers has always amazed Charlie. Even as kids Charlie knew that Billy would be far better at parenting than she could ever hope to be. Billy loved kids, loved to babysit, and loved to have everything around her just so. Keeping her brothers and sisters in line was something that Billy thrived at. It never mattered to her if her siblings wanted her to; she just did it because she knew it needed to be done. Even as an adult Charlie envied that ability. It made her nearly green with a raging jealousy that Billy could see far beyond her to what those around her needed and give it to them without complaint.

As a mother Charlie was amazing. She showered her kids with love, affection, everything they could ever need to know that they were loved by her. As a parent providing structure and discipline, Charlie was still trying to figure that part out. And some days she felt down right lost. Her insecurities always got the best of her, wondering if she was too hard or too soft on her kids. They were well behaved when they were in public, but at home they had the run of the house. She wondered how much that would affect them as teenagers, as productive members of society. All she knew how to provide was love. She watched Billy wondering how her sister could keep them entertained, disciplined and still have all of their love. How was it Billy could provide the kids with everything she was lacking and make it look so effortless? Charlie smiled and shook her head. It was always so ironic to her that the sister that was simply made to mother was the one that was adamant about putting off settling down.

"You are an excellent mother," Charlie said as she sat on the couch next to Billy.

"Oh please, all I did was put them to bed."

"In the week that you've been here you have given them everything I am horrible at giving. They have a routine, they have structure. Me, I am have them running around everywhere, always late to something, and bedtime is whenever they feel like dropping on the floor. I'm great at loving and being a mother, but in so many ways I can never compare to how you are as a parent, at how effortless it is for you to raise kids."

"Char, you forget I get to give them back when they start to frustrate me. I have an advantage, I know that I'm not their mother and that automatically makes them behave more for me."

"Ok, you say whatever you wanna say Billy, but you were born to raise a family. Now, I need you to do me a favor in helping me raise mine."

Billy looked at Charlie with her brows furrowed wondering what was going on. Charlie hadn't asked much of her since Matt had taken Charlie half way across the country. Then again, even when Charlie was just two blocks away from her she was not allowed to ask for help.

"You need to let me be the big sister." Charlie said plainly.

"Umm, are you joking around with me here? You are the older sister, you were born that way," Billy said laughingly. She had no idea what Charlie was trying to tell her. Especially since Charlie was always the first one to start spewing about how she had certain rights since she was the eldest.

"I was born the oldest but you and me both know that you take over as the older sister. Even here, now. I tell you what happens with Matt and you come out here to rescue me."

"Char he tried to beat on you! What did you think I was going to do?"

"I know, that's the point, you always look after me while I'm sitting around thinking about how I just need to feel a little more love. I wasn't always like that, or maybe I was. It doesn't really matter. But you always saw how broken Matt made me and you always did everything you could to make sure that you fixed it. All this time, I've been getting older but I haven't grown up Billy. I haven't taken care of my family, of mom when she got sick, or Ben and Andy when they were younger. I bailed because it got hard, because I couldn't deal. But you were always there, always keeping it together."

"No one blames you Charlie."

"They should," Charlie said calmly. "I ran because it was easier. I don't discipline my kids because I'm afraid they won't love me anymore. I'm lucky that they are as amazing as they are because I didn't really help that along. But you can't keep saving me anymore. I have to do this on my own."

"No you don't. Is this something that Matt put into your head? I mean come on Char we're family! I'm here because you needed your sister. Whether that's ok with you or not I knew that if I didn't come you were falling apart. Contrary to what that disgusting excuse for a man may say I'm not the devil in disguise."

"This is about me Billy. This is about me finally standing up and saying that I need something in my life to change. Please, let me lead on this one. Let me figure out how to grow up like my baby sister."

Billy stared dumbfounded as Charlie walked up the stairs to check on her kids and get in a shower. Never had Charlie ever admitted that Billy had pulled her slack as the oldest of the family as they grew up. She had always held firm that she kept the family together. Admitting that she needed to be more like Billy was, well basically miraculous.

"Hey Spitfire, what's got you looking like you seen a ghost?" Mark's big framed flopped onto the couch next to Billy breaking her momentary trance.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, just a talk with Charlie. She told me I'm a great mother."

"Well she's right. One of the best one's I've ever seen. I was kinda wondering why you didn't have kids of your own."

Billy shrugged and picked at small pieces of lint on her flannel pajama pants. It had taken her all of two days to get used to the fact that Mark popped in and out at all different times. He would stay for a bit, leave to do some business and come back hours later. It didn't bother her as long as it made Charlie happy.

"I almost did, last year. I was dating this guy, we were pretty serious. One day I'm peeing on a stick seeing a positive sign, and then a month later I'm cramping and bleeding and suffering a miscarriage. Me and the guy didn't make it after that."

"Oh, wow. What did Charlie think of all of it?"

"Charlie didn't know, still doesn't. No one knows. It was over and done with before I could blink. I just couldn't admit to anyone that I had failed at something that is supposed to be a God given ability of women."

"Billy, tons of girls have this happen to them you know that right?"

"Yeah of course, but tons of girls aren't me."

"I didn't mean to bring up this—I mean you—" Mark fumbled over words as he looked into the saddened face of Billy.

"_I _am alive, and healthy, and currently enjoying myself with the best niece and nephew in the state of Texas. As long I can keep smiling and laughing, I keep living. Anyway, that's why I don't have kids. I haven't found anyone yet who wants to stick around. But Charlie, she—"

Mark stares hard as Billy looks down at her arm covered with the large tattoo. He knows that when people don't speak it's more important to listen than when they can't seem to shut up. He's become well versed in listening to the things that hang in the pauses, in the silences. It is there that the secrets that eat people alive linger. It's in those places that relationships are either forged or completely broken.

"She's been through a lot. More than she's told you, more than she ever should have. She's made to love, anyone and everyone. She gave up Broadway and singing because it made her boyfriend at the time uncomfortable. She gave up ever going back to accomplish her dream when Matt refused to take care of Jake and work at the same time. He still refused after he stopped working. I had to have Jake stay with me for a week because Matt wanted nothing to do with raising him. But even still she always went back."

"She—she lets stuff like that happen to her a lot?" Mark watches as Billy shakes her head. He can't quite see what point she's trying to make.

"She never wants things like that to happen. She gets angry, she fights for a while and then she gives in. She always freaking gives in. Has no idea how to stand her ground with these idiots. She makes herself be what they want, and need. She loses who she is to please them."

"Billy, why are you telling me any of this at all?"

"Because I want you to know, I want you to understand that when Charlie fails at being on her own, and she will, you need to tell her that it's ok. She needs to know that it isn't the end of the world when she feels lonely or Jake gets angry over not playing a video game. Above all, she can't go back to Matt."

"Oh c'mon Spitfire the man tried to hit her, you really think that she's going back to him?"

"You think this is the first time that he's tried to be abusive? I know you know that he's not the nicest of guys but nearly ten years of verbal abuse, she's tied to him in a way we'll never understand."

"Has he—she—this—has it happened before?" Mark manages to spit out. His confusion, his anger are beginning to get the best of him. He didn't need another reason to hate Matt. He didn't need to give himself another reason to sit as guard dog over this small family. But Billy had done something Mark didn't even know was possible. She planted him in the middle of the family and told him to hold it all together.

"About every six months or so it does. She pretends things are fine for a bit, then they start to fight, he starts telling her how horrible of a person she is, she starts believing it. Before long she's a shell of who she used to be just sitting back and taking all he has to offer, even a shove here or there."

Mark sits quiet as he thinks back to when he had first started visiting Charlie. How there was a bruise that covered half of her arm. How she dismissed it as easy bruising. He knew he wasn't in a place at the time to do anything about it. Knowing now though all that he did, the regret of not simply killing Matt sits on his chest like a massive boulder.

"She said she would never let a man abuse her though," Mark's voice is dry and raspy.

"There's the rub, because Matt has been abusing her mentally for as long as I've known him."

"God Billy why didn't anyone do anything? Why weren't you there for her? Why didn't you or your family get her outta there?" Mark paces the floor in front of Billy feeling anger at no one in particular, just knowing that it's there inside of him.

Billy shrugs looking every bit hurt and saddened by her sister's situation as Charlie just may be herself. "She didn't want to get out. She didn't want to listen to us. Why do you think he took her all the way here to Texas? It wasn't for kicks ya' know. She was getting ready to walk out, getting ready to stay with me. It was his last ditch effort to keep her around. We didn't even know she was moving until the week of."

Mark can feel his head spinning and his heart sinking. So much of Charlie makes sense now. All that had confused him and made her a mystery seemed to be coming to light. The only problem was, could Mark afford to be caught in the maelstrom of this whole thing?

"I didn't tell you any of this to scare you off big man. Charlie truly believes that her relationship with Matt was never abusive until a week ago. Her greatest weapon is her ability to deny that unpleasant emotions exist."

"Then what are you telling me little girl cause right now I am mighty confused."

"I am telling you that you can't fail her Mark. I'm telling you that when she fails, you have to stand strong. But first, you have to let her fail."

"None of that makes sense ya' know."

Billy smirks as she looks at the sheer level of frustration etched into Mark's dark features. "Listen up big man, this is the first time that Charlie has ever really tried to go at it alone. The first time that she isn't talking herself into leaving. She wants to do better, _be_ better than all of this craziness. What I know best about my sister is that she's going to fail miserably at it. She's going to say she's not smart enough, not good enough, just not—enough in general to do it on her own."

"Oh c'mon that little one is as strong as an ox, stubborn as one too. Single minded stubbornness of a bull."

"Yeah, it's a family trait. Stubborn is easy for her. But she has no idea that she can do this on her own. And it hasn't even crossed her mind that she's been doing it on her own for years. But you big man—"

"I need to show her that she can," Mark finishes Billy's sentence suddenly feeling every bit of his forty plus years.

How do you tell a desperate person, a desperate sister, that you won't help? How do you look someone so ready to lay down their life for their loved one that you may not be able to pull them out of the fire? Whether Mark wants to help or not, he knows that the problem is his own life. Ignoring his problems with Sarah for a week doesn't mean they've gone away. He knows that Sarah is expecting a miracle reconciliation while he's gearing up for a divorce. He knows that things are about to go from bad to worse with his situation, and in Charlie's case. What he needs is to take a step back. To figure out whatever it may be that Charlie means to him. Instead all he can think of to say is-

"Don't worry Spitfire, I got this handled."

The answering smile on Billy's face is enough to let Mark know that no matter how scared he might feel inside he is doing the right thing.

"Don't tell her I said anything to you. She hates it when I talk about her like she needs all this help or something."

"But she does need all this help."

"I can see now why she likes you big man. You are totally clueless when it comes to women aren't you? Charlie will never in her life agree that she needs the kind of help that she does. She doesn't even admit to how much one man has totally wrecked our entire family. I love her because she's my sister, but sometimes the woman can make me want to strangle her."

Mark laughs and shakes his head. "I thought maybe that was just me and my short temper."

"Nah, she's been that way for as long I have known her. She's a great woman to be with, when she's being herself."

"Billy, thank you."

"For what?" Mark stared into Billy's questioning eyes for a moment before he answered. There were so many things that he had been grateful for ever since she had stepped foot inside the house. Charlie seemed happier, lighter. The kids were happy, well taken care of and always ready to help with Billy's never ending list of projects. She had traveled across the country in a day because her sister had needed her. She hadn't judged Mark because of his profession, or his tattoos. It seemed that nothing much mattered to Billy besides making sure that her sister was happy and well taken care of.

"For—well, everything. Thanks for talking to me, and not ya' know, just thinking all this is a horrible idea, ya' know between me and her."

"Oh," Billy laughed and stood up. "It's a horrible idea alright. I mean the worst of the worst. The kind that comes back to bite you in the butt when you have your pants dropped and your back turned. But I've had my fair share of doozies in my lifetime, and I have never once seen my sister as happy as she is just talking with you. I want her to know happiness big man. I just hope that you can be the one to actually show her what it is." She clapped Mark on the shoulder and walked upstairs without another word. Billy never had a problem voicing her opinion when it was asked of her, but she knew when to stop talking and how to get people to think about what they were really doing.

It was only when Mark heard Charlie cleaning up in the kitchen that he brought himself out of his head long enough to go talk to the one woman that constantly seemed to be on his mind lately.

"I was wondering when you were going to come in here and talk to me. I've been down here for like fifteen minutes."

"Sorry little one I was just going over my to-do list for tomorrow."

"Billy didn't do anything to you right? She's got a big mouth and I don't want you to get some wrong impression of me or something."

"Why would you say that?"

"I don't know. It usually goes one of two ways; someone meets Billy and get thrown off by her attitude and way of being brutally honest about things, or they think she's incredibly attractive and want her instead."

"Which one happens more?" Mark asked half teasing, half curious. He didn't disagree that Billy was a very attractive woman. She had amazing dark features that many men would find very appealing. For him though the only thing that mattered was making sure Charlie knew that he wasn't going anywhere and felt nothing but a kind of sibling bond with Billy.

"Honestly, the latter. I was a late bloomer, Billy was just born with curves, and these eyes, and this magnetic personality that just—ugh she doesn't even know it! That's what makes it even worse. She's so modest about herself and how great she is so people just gravitate. Growing up, it was easy to see that they would start to gravitate to her more than me. I was jealous. Has it happened to you too?"

Mark threw back his head and let out a loud laugh. "You are too much for me sometimes little girl. There ain't nothing going on between me and Billy besides having a few laughs. I'm about as attracted to her as I would be to another man. She makes for an awesome little sister, and yea I ain't gonna lie and say she ain't pretty cuz she is and you know it. But God's honest truth honey, I have everything I want in my arms right now," he said as he stepped forward and gathered her in his arms.

It never seemed to matter how much he held her, or for how long. The way that she always tucked herself into him caught his breath. She needed him, so much. She needed his strength and his grumpy ways. She had never cared that he wouldn't talk about something until he was ready and had thought it all out. She was there for him, always waiting, always ready to give him a kind of love and support that he had been missing for so long.

"Since we're talking about things that make me uncomfortable," Charlie said stepping away from Mark. "How are things going with Sarah?"

"Were we talking about things that make you uncomfortable or things that make me want to light myself on fire and try and put it out with bricks?"

"Mark, come on. All I've been thinking about lately is the whole thing between Matt and me. I just want to know how things are with you and Sarah."

"Weird, strained, tense, every awkward adjective in the book," he answered sitting at the table and running his hand over his hair. "She keeps looking at me like—like—like I don't even know. Maybe it's like when we first got together, or when she thought that our marriage was better and gonna make it through. All of a sudden I'm _there_ again to her, and I matter. I don't know what to do with it."

"Has anything umm, happened, ya' know, between the two of you? Bedroom wise?"

"What? No, of course not! Charlie I don't know the kind of man you think I am but I would never do that to her, or to you."

"Me? I don't know what you mean. I don't—I have no part of your marriage, or divorce, or whatever. This is all you and her, not me."

"Ok, let's get this clear right now little girl," Mark said getting up and standing behind her. "You in no way got in the middle of my marriage, and you're not in the way of me getting divorced. But you are certainly a big part of why I haven't even considered taking Sarah back. Now hear me out before you start your freaking out," he said feeling her tense. He pressed his long frame against her trapping her between him and the counter. He loved feeling her small body against his. He loved knowing that in a few moments he could have her practically panting after him.

"I told you I'm a jealous guy, and I don't share my women. I don't share myself either. How could I possibly go back to Sarah when I know that I feel the way I do for you? You can fight it, deny it, make it something that it just isn't, but we both know what's real. We both know that when I spend the night the only thing you wanna do is undress me and have your way with me. And I know you can feel what you do to me every single time that I'm near ya'. So let's stop sidestepping this thing here and get it out in the open. For now, and the foreseeable future I am yours, and absolutely no one else's." He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer. "The moment you decide you are done with Matt you let me know," he whispered in her ear. "I'm taking you in so many different ways, you can't even imagine. I'm waiting on you darlin' nothing else."

He placed soft, slow kisses up and down her neck until he could feel, and hear the whimpering that was coming from her.

"Mark," Charlie was more than surprised by the breathless tone that she had. Never in all the years with Matt had she felt a quarter of the intensity that she did when she was around Mark. He was all consuming. Nothing else ever seemed to bother her when he would speak in that soft, slow baritone of his.

"I know darlin' I know. Don't you worry, I'm waiting as long as I need, and I'm here until you send me away."

Charlie smiled and turned, tucking herself into his long side. He always seemed to know what she wanted to say and what she needed to hear. Tomorrow she would probably overthink, and freak out over everything that had just been said to her. Tonight though, nothing would touch her as long as she stayed right there by Mark's side.


End file.
